YouBike rentals in New Taipei City are to be free for the first 30 minutes starting in the first quarter of next year at the earliest, the city government said today.
The move follows a decision by the Taipei City Government in February to reinstate the first half hour for free, as people travel regularly between the two municipalities, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) told a city council meeting.
The first 30 minutes were free when the service was launched, but was changed to only be free for people transferring from other public transportation or with a regional transit pass, New Taipei City Transportation Department Director Chung Ming-shih (鍾鳴時) said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Currently, the first 30 minutes costs NT$5 (US$0.16), with the remaining NT$5 of the total NT$10 cost covered by the city government, Chung said.
New Taipei City has more than 21,000 YouBike and 1,300 stations, with another 200 stations set to be added, department official Wu Cheng-yen (吳政諺) said.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, daily rides reached 120,000 in the city, but fell to 40,000 during the pandemic, Wu said, adding that it has since rebounded to about 90,000 rides per day.
People lost confidence in using public transportation during the pandemic, Chung said.
To increase ridership, Taipei is now offering the first 30 minutes for free again, and Taoyuan offers the first hour for free, he said.
Covering the first half hour is to increase ridership by an estimated 15 percent in New Taipei City, Chung said, adding that additional funds of NT$165 million would be allocated to cover the change, raising the overall annual budget for YouBike to NT$445 million.
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