Taiwanese are growing more concerned about conditions on the nation's roads, with pedestrians saying they are intimidated by bicyclists and bicyclists claiming to be threatened by motorcyclists and automobiles.
This problem has arisen because those driving the biggest and most powerful vehicles tend to disregard the rights of those using alternative means of transportation.
The answer to the problem is for bicyclists and pedestrians to unite and create more space for themselves.
In terms of road occupancy, resource utilization efficiency, pollution levels, health and safety threat levels and mobility, private automobiles consume the most resources.
A non-governmental organization organized a bicycle demonstration on Earth Day last week as part of a campaign to urge the government to pay attention to bicyclists' right to use the roads. Although the event was not sponsored by government agencies or the private sector, as many as 1,000 people still participated and demonstrated their desire for safer conditions for bicyclists.
However, as the route the demonstrators took was not cordoned off from traffic, many participants had to deal with the threat posed by passing cars and scooters, unbearable exhaust fumes and honking horns.
Meanwhile, there have been some positive developments for those who use alternative transportation. Taiwanese are purchasing smaller cars and some have given up automobiles altogether in favor of public transportation.
These developments should have freed up more space, but the area reserved for automobiles has not been reduced and returned to pedestrians and cyclists.
Cities in developed countries enforce the legal rights of pedestrians and bicyclists and also design transportation systems to allow bicycles on subways or buses.
In Copenhagen, nearly one third of all home-to-work commutes are done by bicycle. There are independent bicycle paths and pedestrian access routes, special road signs for bicyclists, separate two-way bicycle lanes and laws that require all bicycles to use lights at night.
Technically, most trunk roads in Taipei are wide enough to allow spacious sidewalks for pedestrians and bicycle lanes that are at least 1m wide. In practice, however, automobile drivers refuse to cede this space to pedestrians and bicyclists.
Taipei's transportation planning has not done much to rectify the situation. In the past decade, Taipei residents have endured congested traffic that has resulted from constant roadway construction projects worth hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars. Meanwhile, the excavated soil and mud from these projects has been recklessly deposited in northern wetlands, rivers and valleys.
The proposal to add sidewalk space and cycling lanes to Taipei's Roosevelt Road and Zhongxiao E Road after the mass rapid transit (MRT) lines were completed have died a quiet death.
If the Taipei City Government fails to add space for those who use alternative means of transportation after the completion of the Xinyi and Nanjing E Road MRT construction projects, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (
The city should enforce laws that forbid automobiles to park in bicycle lanes and on side-walks. If ticketing and towing offending vehicles will change drivers' behavior, then so be it.
In the end, planners must demonstrate a bit more determination and creativity.
Pan Han-shen is a steering board member of the Green Party Taiwan and an organizer of the campaign to safeguard bicyclists' road rights on Earth Day.
Translated by Daniel Cheng and Lin Ya-ti
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