The Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday that bike lanes can now be built on sidewalks or in local districts that have walking areas reserved for pedestrians only.
Yin Chen-pong (尹承蓬), deputy director of the ministry's Department of Railways and Highways, said the new policy was based on amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Punishment Law (道路交通管理處罰條例), which stipulates that traffic signs and lines may be created and placed on sidewalks for the use of slow-moving vehicles on the condition that the safety of pedestrians and motorists was not compromised.
Yin said the scheme would be carried out in two ways. Special signs will distinguish between sections of a road that can be used by pedestrians and bike riders only, and sidewalks where bike and pedestrian lanes will co-exist.
In the first case, however, pedestrians would still have the right of way.
Yin said the policy would be announced as soon as the ministry had completed all the required legal formalities.
Chi Yun-ching (紀允晴), a senior department officer, said currently Taipei and several other areas in Taiwan already have bike lanes. With the amendment, the policy can be implemented nationwide.
The ministry also announced yesterday that motorists will soon be able to pay traffic fines by installment if they were unable to pay the penalty all in one payment. Motorists do not have to present any documents showing they have personal financial difficulties, and only need to verbally inform the authority of their reasons and intention to do so.
According to the ministry, the installments can be spread over no more than 12 months, and a payment of no less than NT$1,000 (US$31) has to be made every month. No interest will be charged.
If a payment is missed, motorists will be considered to have broken the contract and will be required to pay the balance of the penalty immediately.
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The cosponsors of a new US sanctions package targeting Russia on Thursday briefed European allies and Ukraine on the legislation and said the legislation would also have a deterrent effect on China and curb its ambitions regarding Taiwan. The bill backed by US senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal calls for a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations such as China and India, which account for about 70 percent of Russia’s energy trade, the bankroll of much of its war effort. Graham and Blumenthal told The Associated Press
RSS