Coordinating with New Taipei City could be an obstacle to Taipei’s adjustment of fees for the YouBike bicycle rental service, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
He called the YouBike fee adjustments a “burning question” facing the city government, adding that a “troublesome point” could be whether Taipei and New Taipei City should maintain identical fees.
While the two cities’ fee structures do not necessarily have to be the same, any differences could lead to “operational difficulties,” he said.
Currently, the two cities both subsidize the first 30 minutes of YouBike bicycle rental, making the time free for riders, who are charged NT$10 for every subsequent half hour.
Taipei’s Department of Transportation official Liu Chia-yu (劉嘉祐) said that canceling or reducing the subsidy would require holding discussions with the New Taipei City government on how to charge the estimated 10 percent of YouBike users who cross municipal lines.
Ye Yao-tun (葉燿墩), head of the comprehensive planning division in New Taipei City’s transportation department, said the city currently has no plans to change YouBike fees in the near term, adding that until Taipei proposes a specific plan for fee adjustments, it is impossible to comment on potential difficulties.
Taipei’s increasingly mature YouBike system has sparked a reconsideration of subsidies meant to encourage usage. New Taipei City’s YouBike system was established more recently, with stations numbering only a third of Taipei’s and accounting for only 2 percent of total rides, according to the system’s official Web site.
Ko said YouBike fee adjustments would be placed on the agenda of next month’s “Twin City’s Forum” between himself and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫). The meeting will also cover the future of the athletic village for the 2017 Universiade, which is located in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口).
Giant Bicycles, which manages both cities’ YouBike systems, said the software for charging fees could be adjusted to match any agreement reached by the two cities.
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