The Taipei City Government yesterday moved to accommodate the metropolis’ rapidly growing number of cyclists, announcing moves toward providing accident insurance to YouBike users and new bike racks around Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations.
Ministry of Transportation and Communications statistics show that the number of bicycles as a proportion of the city’s traffic has increased by 25 percent since 2011, creating safety concerns as legal and policy structures try to catch up.
While individual motorcycle and car drivers are required to purchase insurance to cover accident liabilities and injuries, as are operators of major forms of public transport such as buses, trains and airplanes, bike riders are not.
The growing popularity of Taipei’s YouBike system has made it a widespread form of public transportation.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications said that finding ways to require insurance have been hampered by a lack of precedent, as well as difficulties estimating costs and deciding how to incorporate insurance payments into the YouBike system.
After media reports about the death of a young YouBike user this week, Taipei Department of Transportation Commissioner Wang Sheng-wei (王聲威) yesterday said the city will move to provide accident insurance to YouBike riders and insurance to cover injuries to others for which the riders might be liable, although injuries to riders themselves will not be covered.
The city will also not require YouBike riders to wear helmets, because riders should make their own decision based on the nature of their routes, Wang said.
Moving bicycles are not the only cause for concern — the rapidly rising number of bikes parked on sidewalks also poses a risk, especially next to MRT stations, the Department of Transportation said.
The department plans to add about 4,000 new bike rack spaces around the city next year, with a focus on areas around MRT stations.
Parking rules will also be more strictly enforced around the stations, with illegally parked bicycles removed on a regular basis, the department said.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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