People using Taipei’s YouBike rental service will not be charged for the first 30 minutes of rides from today, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday.
The move to make the first half an hour of each ride free is to help achieve the Taipei City Government’s goals of reducing carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and increasing the proportion of journeys taken with green transportation to 70 percent, Chiang said.
The Taipei Department of Transportation said that the number of YouBike stations would be expanded to 2,000 by 2026 from 1,338 today, and the number of bikes would be increased to 27,500 from 16,562.
Photo: CNA
However, the time between returning a YouBike and taking another would be increased to 10 minutes from five, it said.
As the first 30 minutes will be free, the city will no longer offer discounts for people who transfer to a public bus or the MRT, it added.
About 90 percent of YouBike trips last less than 30 minutes, the department said, adding that 52 percent do not involve a transfer to other public transportation, indicating that YouBike use in Taipei is primarily for short trips.
For rides that last longer than 30 minutes — which until today cost NT$10 — the fees will remain the same, it said.
After the initial free period, riders will be charged NT$10 for every 30 minutes up to the four-hour mark, NT$20 for every 30 minutes between the fourth and eighth hour, and NT$40 per half hour after the eighth hour of use, it said.
The department said it estimates a 15 percent increase in rentals, or 27 million journeys per year that will benefit from the free 30 minute rentals.
Asked about concerns that bikes would be harder to find due to the free 30-minute rule, the department said that 1,780 bikes were added to the network in May last year and 1,500 were added in December last year.
Moreover, data analysis was being used to optimize the YouBike system, it added.
Two-thousand additional bikes have been added this month and there are plans to increase the total number of bikes in the network by about 6,000 by the end of this year, which will help address shortage issues, it said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to