Taipei Travel

On November 13, Mayor Ko arrived at Zhongshan District to inspect the bicycle lanes located along Fuxing North Road, Nanjing East Road, and Songjiang Road.
 
During the trip, the mayor listened to the briefing provided by staff membes from the Department of Transportation on the porous pavement material used for the bicycle lanes.
 
Speaking to the media, Ko noted that the overall planning involves not only the bicycle trail, but also the removal of obstacles such as the transformer boxes and cable railing posts along the way, as well as the clear division between pedestrian walkway and bicycle lane.
 
While the cost may appear hefty if taking only the bicycle lanes into consideration, the results indicated that the project is a complete overhaul of the pedestrian environment of Taipei City. The price tag for Fuxing North and South Roads approaches NT$180 million, but also includes the deployment of the porous pavement, removal of cable railing posts and transformer boxes, and adjustment to existing bus stops.
 
During his interview with the media, the mayor noted that after inspecting a number of the city’s bicycle lanes, he has taken notes of some of the drawbacks which he will discuss with the Transportation Department to find ways to make improvements. As for whether the ongoing construction for bicycle lanes have caused grievances, the mayor remarked that based on the city’s calculation of average vehicle speed for road sections undergoing constructions, results indicate that the speed returns to normal following the conclusion of works and no permanent impact upon traffic.

He also added that the city will continue to collect information on the bicycle lanes until January of 2017. This report will form the basis for the next phase of Taipei’s bicycle lane deployment strategy.
 
Source: Department of Information Technology, Taipei City Government