#cycle friendly

I want to come back to Taiwan and spend more time, but on a scooter so I can have more freedom of movement and see more of Taiwan that is not possible on public transport.

People I love the people I met in Taiwan, and I would happily live there if it weren’t for the mosquitoes. Every single person I encountered was extremely kind, assisted me with my poor levels of Chinese, and would go out of their way to help me. I felt that Taiwan was an open country that welcomed all types of people with open arms. I never felt unsafe and never felt I had to be extremely vigilant because of the people. I felt at ease. There were times when I would meet a person who made me feel a bit uncomfortable; not so uncomfortable that I felt unsafe, more that, I did not want to be around the person.

To every single Taiwanese person, I met, thank you for welcoming me into your country and making me feel safe and welcome, I can’t wait to return.

Food Taiwan has an abundance of night markets and local restaurants. You will never be short for food there. But be warned it is easy to spend a lot of money in the food markets as you want to try many types of food, or even the same food from multiple vendors. Take, for example, fried chicken on a stick: I found a nice stall selling fried chicken, and hands down this was the best I had tasted, but then I went to a different stall, and it was not the same, it lacked the right amount of spices, and the crust was not crusty enough.

I would recommend:

Fruity, cheesy oysters

Chicken skin on a stick

Stinky tofu

Chicken gizzard

Taiwanese hot dog (hot dogs with rice as buns)

Fried crabs

Hot Pot

Chicken wings stuffed with rice

Cycle-friendly Taiwan is extremely cycle-friendly, I didn’t use a bicycle while I was there, but I did observe that cyclists were safe and car users respected them on the road. I now wish I had hired a bike, but we live and learn. It is an excellent place to cycle around as there are lots of cycle paths. I would recommend cycling around Kaohsiung City; there are countless paths and in particular, if you can, cycle along Lovers River, taking the opportunity to watch the street performers and see the night light up.

Things to do I don’t even know where to begin—there are so many facets to Taiwan. If you love moving from one place to another, I would recommend hiring a scooter and travelling around Taiwan. Spend time in Kenting Park, ride around Kaohsiung City and go through as many national parks as possible.

Safety Taiwan is one of the safest countries I have been to in Asia so far. As a solo female traveller, I never felt unsafe, and I never felt I had to watch every side of me, or that I had to be wary of every person whom I came into contact with. No matter where you are in the world and how safe a country is, be vigilant, and take the same precautions as you would at home. However, you will feel safe in Taiwan, so enjoy it.

Kiren Rijiju Calls for Making Cities Cycle Friendly

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju flagged off Delhi Movelo Cyclothon organized by NITI Aayog at the national capital. He also urges to make cities cycle friendly.

“With the Movelo Cyclothon, NITI Aayog is introducing the people of India with the future of mobility. Let us together make a move for better cities and a better India,” the minister said while interacting…

Since I have been in London we have been out checking out different neighborhoods, and I have also been writing my dissertation in London focusing on cyclists perceptions of cycling in London.

Copenhagen, city of cyclists

Video by maiken ingvordsen.

Just thought we would put this video up, as a reminder that the Tour de France might be the biggest and most well known bicycle race in the world, but that Copenhagen is leading the way for getting ordinary people like us (Chou and Myself), onto the bike trails. Really nice to live in a city that is so generously investing in its bicycle culture...

The bicycle plays an important role in the Copenhagen traffic. Cycling is furthermore space-saving, reduces pollution and promotes a healthy form of transport.

Copenhagen Municipality has prepared a Cycle Policy 2002-2012, which includes aims to increase the proportion of home-workplace trips, has the goal to halve the accident risk and for providing a greater sense of security for cyclist and faster travel speeds.

Bike paths along busy roads are traditionally the backbone of the infrastructure for bicycles in Copenhagen, but the "lack" of bike paths and lanes have been mapped in the 'Cycle Track Priority Plan 2002-2016', which has outlined construction of 51 km bike paths and 'reinforced cycle lanes'. Reinforced cycle lanes are a combination of painted bike lanes, bicycle paths and short cuts, separating cyclists and car traffic.

The Cycle Track Priority Plan operates with an annual fixed frame of approx. 8 million. krones, and on this basis will the expansion take at least 20-25 years.

Based on traffic volumes and the greatest road safety effects, the main routes identified (shown on the map) include stretches where wider bike lanes are needed, and where some of the busiest bike trails in Copenhagen are located (with a width of approx. 2 m) causing congestion among cyclists during rush hour. This congestion slows average speeds, creates insecurity and creates conflicts with other road users.

Therefore, there is a need for new bicycle lanes and bicycle routes, for providing alternative routes, but at the same time there will be a need to increase capacity on the most used bike paths. This is initially 2-3 km of the inner part of Nørrebrogade, on Amagerbrogade through Christianshavn and the inner part of Østerbrogade.

If the target for bicycle traffic is reached, it may be necessary to expand further stretches over the next 10 years. The focus is on parts of Amagerbrogade, the rest of Nørrebrogade and Frederiksborggade. Later, Sølvgade, Vesterbrogade and Jagtvej will be the focus. 

On traditional bike paths, there's room for two bikes running in one direction (for overtaking or for having a conversation while riding). An extension to three lanes (3.0 m) will increase capacity significantly, from the standard (approx.) 2 m paths. On specific routes (eg. Brogaderne), there is often great pressure on street space, since bus lanes, pedestrian and car traffic also needs to share the use of the limited space on the streets. Therefore, priorities must be sharper between the different modes of traffic, and the growing network/number of cycle routes that Copenhagen has planned - the so-called green cycle, either situated in green surroundings or following minor roads, are a clear indication of the placement of cyclist in the municipalities priority. The overall proposals for "new cycle routes" are around 100 km, of which approx. a third are existing trails, where the bicycle routes in the new development of Ørestad is being expanded. In light of expected growth in traffic and new opportunities with the  establishment of new connections in the city, particularly  the new bridges over the harbor, the cycling policy is set to run along these lines for a comprehensive network of green cycle routes in Copenhagen and Frederiksberg:

In 2008, the City of Copenhagen took the initiative to develop a methodology for a cost-benefit analysis of cycling infrastructure, based on the principles set forth in the Ministry of Transport’s manual for cost-benefit analysis. A number of factors are included in the equation such as transport costs, security, comfort, branding/tourism, transport times and health, and when all these factors are added together, the net social gain is DKK 1.22 per cycled kilometer. This is in contrast to a net social loss of DKK 0.69 per kilometer driven by car.

  The most important socio-economic impact of cycling lies in the area of health care. When we cycle, we save ourselves and society as a whole significant health care costs, including saved treatment expenses and increased tax revenues as a result of fewer illnesses. On the other hand, heightened activity levels increase the risk of injury, and accident costs in the form of treatment expenses and loss of tax revenues are deducted from health benefits.

So, if the Municipality is successful in achieving the political goal that 50% will bike to and from work by 2015, the health benefit of the extra trips alone will be around DKK 500 million and the total health impact will be approximately 440 million DKK (COWI, 2009).

  On weekdays in 2010, approximately 9,000 cyclists crossed the Bryggebroen bridge, built only for cyclist and pedestrians, saving an average of 3.31 km, equivalent to around 12 minutes of saved transport time. The 12 minutes saved by each cyclist is the equivalent of 1/2 million hours saved on an annual basis. Cyclist are now segregated from motor traffic reducing the risk of accidents, the bridge has generated new cyclists whose health has been improved by the fact that they have started cycling (COWI, 2009).

The total socio-economic impact of the bridge is very positive, the equivalent of a 12.6% rate of return, which is well over the state’s minimum requirement of 5% return on infrastructure projects. This is without counting the high benefit for pedestrians, who also have access to the bridge (COWI, 2009).

  Moreover, the large proportion of bicycle traffic in Copenhagen does not merely constitute a direct socio-economic benefit, as there are many businesses engaged in selling and producing bicycles, and many firms enjoy increased staff mobility due to cycling. In Greater Copenhagen, there are 309 businesses selling and repairing bicycles, and these firms generate 650 full time jobs and a total estimated annual turnover of DKK 1.3 billion (Copenhagen Municipality, 2010).

Add to these other firms such as bicycle rental firms, ‘pedicabs’, bike messengers and firms whose employees cycle during working hours such as postmen, police and home carers, there are many reasons for weighing the benefits of infrastructure for bicycles. Cycling infrastructure investments are the basis of Copenhagen cycling and the reason that Copenhagen citizens and businesses can enjoy all the benefits of urban cycling. (Copenhagen Municipality, 2010).