The Taipei City Government promised yesterday to improve the design of bicycle crossings on Renai Road and Dunhua South Road after they sparked concern over the safety of pedestrians on the narrowed pedestrian crossings.
The city’s Department of Transportation set up bicycle crossings at several of the intersections along Renai Road and Dunhua South Road last month by converting sections of pedestrian crossings into bicycle crossings.
The bicycle crossings were created in an effort to prevent cyclists from threatening the safety of pedestrians by riding on pedestrian crossings, the department said. The city government planned to set up bicycle crossings on more roads next year.
Since the creation of the bicycle crossings, however, the department has received several complaints from residents about the narrowed pedestrian crossings.
The width of the pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Renai Road and Dunhua South Road, for example, was reduced to just 1m to accommodate the bicycle crossing.
Hsieh Ming-hong (謝銘鴻), chief engineer of the department’s transportation engineering division, acknowledged that the width of pedestrian crossings had been narrowed in order to set up bicycle crossings.
Hsieh said the department had been considering removing parts of traffic islands along those streets to make space for bicycle crossings.
Hsieh said there were about 59km of bicycle crossings in Taipei, and that the city government planned to draw up more bicycle crossings in the near future.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications banned cyclists from riding on pedestrian crossings beginning in April. Cyclists who violate the regulation can be fined between NT$300 and NT$600.
Cyclists may only use pedestrian crossings if they dismount and push their bicycles.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
RSS