Taipei City Government

Mayor Ko Wen-je attended the opening ceremony of the 2015 Asian Cycling Forum on March 19. The event is a platform for experts and scholars to exchange their views on the development of public bicycle rental, integration of cycling and public transportation, cycling and tourism, and related issues.
During his address, the mayor noted that concepts such as green buildings, intelligent cities, and sustainable environment are popular nowadays. The bicycle is a mean of transportation that complies with these concepts and considered to be part of the public transportation network from the perspective of city hall.
A cycling enthusiast himself, the mayor pointed out that he has visited every biking route along Taipei’s riverside. He lauds former mayor Hau Lung-bin’s role in implementing YouBike rental system, vowing to expand the public bicycle scheme further and creating more cycling routes.
Regarding upcoming plans for enhancing the cycling infrastructure, he expects the City to invest considerable resources in constructing bicycle lanes. The first phase will involve building dedicated lanes on roads with width over 40 meters.
He concluded his speech by stating that there is only “better than” and never “the best.” The forum is only a beginning, noted the mayor. He hopes that the forum and consecutive events will help bring experiences from around the world to Taipei through the exchange, helping the city government improve its bicycle policies.