The Taipei City Government has begun monitoring the size of crowds at 19 popular tourist spots and publishing its findings on a website. The website uses a color-coded system to let people know where the crowds are particularly big. The goal is to prevent overcrowding and encourage social distancing over the Lunar New Year holiday.
Ximending, Dihua Street, Shihlin Night Market, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, Taipei Zoo, and Taipei Children’s Amusement Park. These are among the 19 big tourist attractions in Taipei that are subject to crowd size monitoring.
Once an hour, the city government updates information about the size of crowds at these places on its website, using a three-color system to make it easy to see where the big crowds are. Places marked “green” are not crowded, places marked “yellow” are somewhat crowded”, and places marked “red” are excessively crowded.
One reason for monitoring crowd size is to minimize the risk of COVID-19. However, the city government won’t impose crowd control measures, even at places where the crowds have gotten big. Instead, staff will be dispatched to crowded places and will hold a sign reminding people to maintain social distancing.
The crowd monitoring program may need a bit more publicity: reporters found that some people were unaware of the website with the color-coded icons.
Taipei sees fewer people during the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday, but when it comes to preventing COVID-19, even smaller crowds are worth monitoring.