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.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
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