Taipei City’s Department of Transportation will set up more bicycle racks at government buildings and public schools to meet growing demand, and encourage private corporations to offer their open space for bicycle racks.
The use of bicycles for transportation in Taipei increased from 4.2 percent in 1999 to 5.5 percent last year, while the number of cyclists reached 170,000 last year, department statistics show.
Chang Che-yang (張哲揚), director of the city’s Parking Management and Development Office, said the city has established 22,798 bicycle racks at public schools, administrative offices and parks, and setting up more bike racks would encourage commuting by bicycle.
The department is encouraging building owners and companies to take advantage of their available open space to erect bicycle racks for public use, he said.
“The city will take responsibility for maintenance of bicycle racks in private buildings, and so we encourage the private sector to work with us in building a friendlier environment for riders,” he said.
Department Commissioner Wang Sheng-wei (王聲威) reminded cyclists that bicycles are banned from sidewalks unless a bicycle space is set up.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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