As part of ongoing efforts to improve pedestrian safety, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan on Monday introduced a demerit system for YouBike, with riders accruing points for each violation. Those who get three points within a year would have their membership suspended for 14 days. If they accumulate 7 points within 12 months, their membership would be suspended for a full year. Riding under the influence of drugs or alcohol would earn a two-year suspension.
Violations subject to the penalties include riding on a covered walkway, running a red light, riding the wrong way on a road, failing to yield to a pedestrian, using a phone while riding and carrying a passenger. People are also encouraged to report violations to their local transportation department.
Authorities at all levels have been under tremendous pressure to improve pedestrian safety. In what has been called a “hell for pedestrians,” officials have implemented a range of short and long-term plans, mostly targeting motorists and infrastructure. This appears to be the latest front in the battle over the nation’s streets and who should be given priority.
City officials said the demerit system is a response to a spate of complaints and injuries in recent years as YouBike use has increased. While some cyclists’ behavior certainly warrants penalization, the way the cities are going about fixing the problem would only cause more animosity between road users.
The rules themselves are reasonable. Few would say that cyclists should be allowed to engage in dangerous behavior or ride in areas set aside for pedestrians. Yet as anyone who has cycled in Taiwan will know, there is often no safe place to ride. The same streets that have sidewalks too narrow for both pedestrians and cyclists are also too narrow for the flood of scooters, cars, trucks and buses that also need to use it, many of which park in the exact place where bikes are meant to ride.
The lives of cyclists are at greater risk by dodging vehicles on the street than are those of pedestrians avoiding slow-moving bikes. This is the very understandable reason cyclists sometimes ride on the sidewalk, yet it has gone unacknowledged by city authorities. Instead, their messaging reads as though they are blaming cyclists for not wanting to get hit by a bus while evading the only real solution — building more bike lanes.
At the same time, there has been no mention of pedestrian responsibility. Another common complaint among cyclists is that pedestrians glued to their phones often do not pay attention to their surroundings, wandering into bike lanes or blocking sidewalks that are meant to be shared.
Even ringing the bell on a YouBike often fails to alert pedestrians who are not paying attention. But here again, city authorities blame the cyclists, even asking them to refrain from ringing the bell to avoid startling pedestrians. Pedestrians might have priority on a shared road, but they also have a responsibility which they share with their fellow road users to remain aware of their surroundings.
YouBike has grown into a tremendous service, as evidenced by its widespread ridership. Its use has been and should be encouraged as a solution to traffic and pollution. Yet the cities might find that this new demerit system would discourage its use while increasing the very animosity it hopes to solve. All kinds of vehicles and pedestrians have the right to use the road, as well as the responsibility to look out for one another’s safety. In their messaging, city authorities should acknowledge this while also doing their own part to build out the infrastructure that will make the roads safer for everyone.
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