People planning a bicycle tour along the east coast will soon be able to maximize their experience thanks to a Web portal developed by the Institute of Transportation that will be officially launched on Saturday to coincide with the Taiwan Bike Festival.
Institute of Transportation -Director-General Lin Tyh-ming (林志明) told a weekly ministerial meeting at the Ministry of -Transportation and Communications on Thursday that the contents of the portal would initially only be available in traditional Chinese.
However, Lin said the institute was planning to translate the contents into English so foreign tourists and English-speaking residents could organize bike tours using the travel information provided on the portal.
The institute has also produced a cellphone edition of the portal so people can access the information via their cellphones, he said.
Lin said Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) had asked the institute to add a function on the portal that provides travelers with a panoramic view every 500m along the route.
The institute said the system covers the bike routes starting in Fulong (福隆), Taipei County, all the way through Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties.
The portal also provides links to the Tourism Bureau Web site, allowing travelers to access information about scenic spots along the way.
In addition, the institute said its system enables travelers to customize their tours and schedule their routes.
If a person wants to visit hot springs, flower beds or buy local snacks while cycling in Yuli (玉里), Hualien County, for example, they simply need to enter those conditions and the system would produce a list of proposed routes.
The information listed in the proposed routes will include the distance of a route, the locations where bicycles can be rented and the public transportation systems available to access the route’s starting point.
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