7/27/2010

Cycling in Taipei

I took the following pictures on my iPhone walking to work up Dunhua North Road (敦化北路) today in Taipei. I grabbed my iPhone camera out of my satchel and two minutes later, I had them - pretty simple. The green lane that these cars are blocking is strictly for bikes. Unfortunately, the police in Taipei are not enforcing this point. For cyclists, it's uneasy going as usual. They might want to ride down or up this green lane that is reserved for them; alas they'll be forced out into Taipei traffic. Sad, very sad:












7 comments:

Richard said...

Hi Patrick,

I really like your blog – your commentary on Taiwan matters makes interesting reading (that woman on the swings just sounds like a nutta). I’ve just launched a website for foreigners in Taiwan called Cruisy, and am inviting bloggers in Taiwan to participate (there are plenty of links through to your blog and I've set up a dashboard for contributors to check hits). If you’re interested, you can check out the Blogs page at http://www.cruisy.com.tw/blogs.jsp and the “Add your blog” link at the bottom of the page for more info.

Thanks and regards,
Richard
Cruisy Site Administrator

Patrick Cowsill said...

Thanks Richard. I'll check out your blog tonight. I threw up a link in my "Blogs I like" on the side of my own blog.

asian market girl said...

True. Being atrue taipei girl (well before now im in NY), im really annoyed when cars take over bike lanes

Terry J. Benzie said...

If I am not mistaken, a few months ago, they actually changed the rules for the Dunhua bike lane to only make it "bike only" on weekends and "special days". I was told that the reason behind the change was because motorists were using it anyway.

Patrick Cowsill said...

"If I am not mistaken, a few months ago, they actually changed the rules for the Dunhua bike lane to only make it "bike only" on weekends and 'special days.'"

LOL, it figures. Call me cynical, but the lane went in about a week before the Deaflympics. When I saw that it wasn't being enforced, I figured it was more for show. Dunhua runs right by the stadium and pool (although the pool was disqualified at the last moment) after all.

Somebody told me that even if nobody's enforcing this lane, it's still a good thing as it raises bicycle awareness.

Patrick Cowsill said...

But I have to say, what a complete waste of our tax dollars. If it is, as you say, only open for cyclists on certain days, then someone should be held accountable for this incompetence.

Richard said...

Thanks for linking to my site, Patrick, much appreciated. I've changed the Blogs section if you want to check it out. I'm not asking for contributors anymore - just setting all links back to the bloggers site. You're welcome to join the blog digest - just email me at cruisytaiwan[at]gmail.com (if you do, make sure you send your username as it's associated with your blog).
Cheers,
Richard

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