Nearly 30,000 Taipei residents celebrated 2008 World Car-free Day yesterday by riding bicycles 16km from Taipei City Hall to a riverside plaza near National Taiwan University.
Among the cyclists were many executives and Taipei City Council members. They rode along two of the city’s main roads — which were off-limits to cars and scooters — and then passed through the National Taiwan University campus before taking the riverside bike route between Gongguan and the Jingmei Bridge.
The Car-free Day celebration also includes live music and free coffee for EasyCard holders in Taipei’s Xinyi business district today. The district will restrict traffic from 7am to 5pm, during which no private cars or motorcycles will be allowed.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
People using EasyCards on buses passing through the Xinyi district during the period can ride for free rides.
In Taichung City, 5,000 cyclists rode in a car-free environment from a soccer stadium to a section of the elevated expressway between Taichung and Changhua.
Kaohsiung City marked World Car-free Day on Saturday, with residents riding bicycles 6.5km from Central Park to the Kaohsiung Cultural Center.
Taipei has marked World Car-free Day since 2002, while Taichung and Kaohsiung began in 2003.
Starbucks Taiwan’s decision to charge for drink customization, which had been free, has sparked consumer backlash, highlighting the challenge of raising prices without making customers feel they are losing value, experts said. Since Oct. 12, customers who order drinks with less or no ice and ask to have the volume topped up with milk or other liquid have been charged an additional NT$15. Topping off drinks without ice was previously free, and disgruntled customers posted photos on social media showing that iced drinks ordered without ice were only half full if the extra NT$15 was not paid. The posts drew tens of thousands
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The husband of a Taiwanese woman stabbed to death at a hotel in Japan has been detained on suspicion of entering into a sham marriage and taking out high-value insurance policies in her name, Tainan prosecutors said today. A woman surnamed Ching (井), 38, was killed on Monday last week at a tourist hotel in Fujikawaguchiko, Japan. A Taiwanese woman surnamed Yang (楊) was arrested by Japanese police on suspicion of murder, Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office deputy chief prosecutor Wang Sheng-hao (王聖豪) said. Investigators suspect that Ching's new husband, surnamed Lee (李), 29, arranged a sham marriage, encouraged her to travel to Japan
Taiwan’s AH-64E Apache attack helicopters have been grounded for inspections following a US technical notification about gearbox risks, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday. Speaking briefly to reporters before a legislative committee hearing, Koo said the army would deploy AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters and OH-58D reconnaissance helicopters to carry out readiness missions during the inspection period. He did not elaborate on the inspection requirements or how long the Apaches would remain grounded. According to a US Army Public Affairs release issued on Oct. 2, the US Army has ordered an immediate, temporary pause in flight operations for AH-64E Apache helicopters
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