The Executive Yuan is to allocate NT$40 billion (US$1.25 billion) over the next four years to reduce pedestrian casualties by 30 percent by 2030 after a pedestrian safety policy framework was passed at a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday.
The Cabinet passed the framework ahead of a “Stop Killing Pedestrians” protest on Sunday organized by the Vision Zero Alliance.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, and Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), its candidate, have said they might attend the rally.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications said that the framework sets short, medium and long-term goals.
The most important of the short-term, or six-month, goals is to forward the draft road traffic safety basic act to the legislature next month, the ministry said.
Another short-term goal would be to establish a Cabinet-level road traffic safety meeting, which would be presided over by Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), it said.
The government is to spend NT$40 billion to improve pedestrian safety, including changing road layouts at 600 sites across Taiwan deemed to be accident-prone or where crowds gather, it said.
Progress reports on the safety improvements would be published every six months, the ministry said.
The medium-term, or one-year, goals would focus on drafting statutes of pedestrian safety facilities, it said.
The statutes would identify important pedestrian facilities, their key performance indicators, and mechanisms to manage and assess them, the ministry said.
The statutes would also ensure that a mechanism is in place to hold local government officials accountable for transportation facilities under their jurisdiction, it said.
The draft road traffic safety basic bill stipulates that the central government would be obligated to provide a national road traffic safety master plan every four years, while the ministry would be in charge of promoting the plan and local governments would enforce it, the ministry said.
To improve vehicle management systems, drivers and motorcyclists who have repeatedly contravened traffic regulations would be given a temporary license when they apply for a renewal, the ministry said.
They would not receive their new license until they address any unpaid fines and pass a defensive driving course, it said.
Any increases in funding for highway bus operators would be prioritized for operators in central, southern and eastern Taiwan, as well as on outlying islands, it said.
Among the long-term, or four-year, goals, a road test would be required to receive a scooter license, it said.
To help increase use of public transportation, the Executive Yuan would continue to promote T-Pass monthly access cards across Taiwan, the ministry said.
From next year to 2030, NT$64.3 billion would be spent to switch all city buses to electric, it said.
The ministry said that it would promote the use of bicycles and other shared vehicles as the “last mile” of public transportation.
Road authorities should pinpoint hazards at high-risk locations and adopt preventative measures, as part of a safety management system to help them plan, design and build roads, it added.
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