Taipei’s YouBike public bicycle rental scheme has seen a sharp increase in its usage rate, but its popularity has meant insufficient bicycles or bicycle racks at some spots.
At popular locations, like the ones next to the Gongguan and Guting MRT stations, users can find it difficult to find an empty rack to return their bicycle and have to wait in line for a space.
At the Taipei City Hall stop and World Trade Center stop, where many users rent bicycles for commuting, the racks are often empty after work, with no bicycles left.
A Taipei resident who filed a complaint to the Taipei mayor’s mailbox, an online platform for residents to share their concerns about city policies and developments, said he could not find a parking space at Wuchang Park or at the nearby Songshan Railway Station.
When he called the 1999 Taipei Citizen Hotline, staff told him that workers at the system provider went off-duty before midnight, forcing him to spend 30 minutes finding a parking space on Yongji Road.
“The YouBike system is a 24-hour service, but it cannot address users’ problems at midnight. It’s hard to rent a bicycle and even harder to return it. The customer service needs a lot of improvement,” he said in the complaint.
The Department of Transportation said it recognized the problem, and said it would send more bicycles to some stops while removing bicycles from the racks regularly, so users can find spaces.
According to Shen Hui-hung (沈彗虹), a division chief in the department, the lack of parking spaces is more serious at stops in residential areas between 11pm and 1am, and he said the department will strengthen the dispatch starting at 10pm in those areas.
Giant YouBike scheme spokesperson Vicky Liu (劉麗珠) said Giant would also try to improve the situation. Meanwhile, users can check for empty racks at the kiosk at each stop. If they cannot find a space, users can register their EasyCard at the kiosk and extend the free-of-charge period for another 60 minutes.
The YouBike scheme has 116,000 registered users and the number of daily rentals has reached 25,000 on weekdays and 27,000 on weekends.
The Department of Transportation has installed 62 YouBike rental stops so far, with 2,132 bicycles.
It plans to increase the number of locations to 162 by the end of the year, making the scheme more accessible to commuters.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS