Cycling enthusiasts joined Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Yueh-chin (林月琴) on Thursday in demanding that the government improve road safety and protect the rights of riders, ahead of World Bicycle Day on Tuesday next week.
“It is time to make Taiwan’s cities more friendly to bicycles, and reduce reliance on automobiles,” Lin told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Lin was accompanied by Tauno Kelder, an Estonian national living in Taipei and founder of the Taipei Bicycle Commuter organization, and Vision Zero Taiwan member Tsai Yi-hui (蔡奕輝).
Photo: CNA
Commuting by bike is not easy in Taiwan, Lin said.
“When riding on sidewalks, we intrude on pedestrians, but when we switch to roads, it could be unsettling and dangerous with motorcycles zipping past,” Lin said. “We feel quite helpless.”
Taiwan lacks a concrete “bicycle policy,” the three said at the news conference, with Kelder holding a sign that read “Enhance right of way for bicycles,” while Tsai’s sign read “Institute public education on rights of bicycle riders.”
Bicycle use in Taiwan has been declining — from 5.6 percent of the population in 2009 to 3.3 percent in 2022, Lin said, citing Ministry of Transportation and Communications data.
“Taipei has the funding and resources to make massive investments in bicycle paths and related basic infrastructures, but the city’s bicycle commuter rate had only shrunk from 2.7 percent in 2004 to 2.4 percent two decades later,” she said.
Meanwhile, bike accidents involving young people aged seven to 17 jumped more than 40 percent from 3,946 in 2020 to 5,644 last year, she said.
These figures run counter to the government’s stated aim of encouraging more people to take up cycling as a healthy and sustainable way of commuting, Lin said.
“With bicycle use declining, while cycling-related injuries and fatalities rise, it is clear that the overall environment has become more hostile to bicycle riders,” she added.
Tsai said increased self-awareness and defensive maneuvers alone would not ensure safety for riders.
“While the government has been encouraging the public to use bicycles, it has not concurrently worked to improve basic road infrastructures, nor has it examined road safety issues,” Tsai said.
“The government must enact policies to provide more safe spaces and paths, strictly enforce compliance, raise awareness about safety and protect all groups of road users,” Tsai said. “The government should institute a real ‘bicycle policy’ that must be integrated into needed reforms of the overall transport network plans to reduce road accidents for all types of vehicles,” he said.
As a daily bicycle commuter on the streets of Taipei, Kelder said he has experienced Taiwan’s contradictory transportation policies.
On one hand, he sees the government urge the public to take up cycling to promote health, environmental sustainability and other benefits, he said.
However, the government’s only solution is the YouBike system, while basic road infrastructures and traffic law statutes seem to send out the message that “bicycle riders are not welcome,” he said.
“We often hear government officials saying there is no more room on the road for bicycles. This actually means the government continues to allow automobiles to occupy all road spaces. Many people also have said that biking is very dangerous, but the real danger comes from being forced to ride in this dangerous environment,” he added.
Given Taiwan’s high population density and limited land area, the priority should be chooosing a mode of transportation that is healthy, efficient, energy-saving and safe, Kelder said.
The transportation ministry, the Ministry of Education and the National Land Management Agency should consider bicycles not only a tourist attraction or for leisure, but as a mode for daily commutes that is worth developing, the trio said.
It is time to amend outdated laws and regulations governing traffic and transportation, which are not suitable in the current environment, they said.
They pointed out the need to increase the safety distance required when overtaking another vehicle in a parallel lane to 1.5m to 2m as stipulated in international standards.
“The government must change its mindset about urban planning and road design, which only focused on automobiles. We must revamp the overall city planning on public spaces to allocate more room for other types of vehicles, and must ensure legal protection provide a safe and right of way for bicycle riders,” Lin said.
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