YouBike rides are to be free in Taipei for the first 30 minutes starting from Wednesday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said on Tuesday.
The change is part of the city’s goal to reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and increase public transportation use to 70 percent, Chiang told a news conference.
Since the first half hour would be free, the NT$5 discount for transferring between YouBike and other forms of public transportation would be discontinued, the Taipei Department of Transportation said.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Fees would remain the same for rides beyond 30 minutes, at NT$10 per half hour for rentals within four hours, NT$20 per half hour for rentals between four and eight hours, and NT$40 per half hour for rentals longer than eight hours, it said.
Rides that begin in Taipei and end in another jurisdiction would still enjoy the first 30 minutes free, the department said.
YouBike rentals within 30 minutes currently cost NT$10, NT$5 of which is covered by the city.
A budget of NT$370 million has been set aside for the new policy, the city government said.
The window within which a rider can rent another bike from the same station to continue their rental would also be extended from five to 10 minutes, the department added.
About 90 percent of YouBike rentals are within 30 minutes, while 52 percent of rentals are made without transferring to other forms of transportation, it said.
Taipei is looking to expand its YouBike network over the coming two years, the department said.
By 2026, the capital aims to increase the number of stations from 1,338 to 2,000 and the number of bikes from 16,562 to 27,500, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
RSS