A biking craze that was sparked five years ago is being revived because of the recent rise in electricity and fuel prices, with bicycle commuters saying that you can save money and lose weight by biking to work.
With electricity prices set to rise on May 15, weekend and holiday bikers are using the Internet to urge commuters to bike to work.
Some netizens scoffed at the idea, saying that the government was unfriendly to bikers and that saving NT$60 per day on fuel while spending more on lunch was not a good tradeoff. However, netizens who have already begun to commute to work by bike said they enjoyed the health benefits.
One anonymous staff member at an e-commerce firm said his company encouraged its employees to bike to work, adding that it had set up shower stalls equipped with free toiletries and hair dryers.
He said 10 of his coworkers had begun to bike to work.
Huo Chun-jung (霍春融), another bike commuter who has commuted from New Taipei City’s (新北市) Sindian (新店) to Neihu (內湖) in Taipei City for the past five years, said he has not only saved NT$10,000 in gas money, he had also lost 40kg.
When the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ announced earlier this month that it would raise gas prices, a commuter surnamed Ting (丁) said he promised himself that he would bike to work everyday from Taipei’s Nankang District (南港) to the City Hall MRT station.
“I saved more than NT$210 in bus fares in a week,” Ting said.
“Most important is that while biking and busing both take 30 minutes, I’m exercising for 30 minutes instead of sitting on a bus,” Ting said.
A cyclist known by his Internet moniker “bossteam” said the one-way distance of his bike commute from the southern end of Taipei City’s Songhsan District (松山) to Tucheng District (土城) was about 16.5km, adding that the best thing about biking was that he had lost weight, while his glycemia, cholesterol and liver function index had all gone down to healthy levels.
Taiwan Cyclist Federation director Tien Yi-sheng (田沂生) said that safety was still the most important concern for bicycle commuters.
“We still need more systems that are biker-friendly in Taiwan,” Tien said, adding that in Denmark and the Netherlands 30 percent of the workforce commutes by bicycle.
Tien said his federation had established safety guidelines for bicycle commuters, including advice on picking suitable bikes, basic safety equipment such as helmets, gloves, tools and rain gear, as well as information on basic bike repair techniques, such as patching tires, the best routes to work and the time needed to reach certain destinations.
The group advised bike commuters to place safety first by not biking in rainy weather or when feeling unwell, not listening to music while biking, keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings and using front and rear lights at night.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by