Cyclists in Taipei City who park their bicycles on sidewalks or porches illegally could have their bicycles towed starting next week, as Taipei City Government is stepping up efforts to address illegal bicycle parking across the city.
The Police Department’s Traffic Division will start towing illegally parked bicycles around MRT Technology Building Station next week after the plan was formally approved by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) on Tuesday last week.
Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧), director of the division, said the Department of Transportation began drafting the plan last year to address growing complaints about bicycles illegally parked around MRT stations and on sidewalks across the city.
To avoid disputes, officers from the division will take a photo of illegally parked bicycles before cutting the locks and towing them, Fang said. The owners could be required to pay a towing fee of about NT$100 and face a fine between NT$300 and NT$600.
While there are no registration numbers on bicycles, Fang said the division would ask cyclists to bring IDs when claiming the bicycles. Another measure to prevent towed bicycles being falsely claimed would involve requiring owners to have a picture taken with their bicycles and sign a form, Fang said.
If more than one person showed up to claim a towed bicycle, police would look into the case and charge the bogus claimant with larceny and invasion of property.
“We are happy to see more and more people using bicycles as transportation tools, but we need to address the issue of illegal bicycle parking and do a better job on bicycle management,” he said.
If the plan is successful, the division intends to expand bicycle towing to areas around other major MRT stations including Gongguan and Taipei City Hall stations.
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