Taipei’s popular public bike system, YouBike, is going to start charging riders NT$5 (about 15 US cents) for the first half hour of use beginning April 1. Currently, the first half hour is free. The current fees for longer use will stay the same.
The city government predicts the new charge will decrease the use of the system by 30%, which means each bike will be used about 8 times a day.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je said the public supports the move, even though it means making citizens pay for the service,
"Actually we did a survey and most people, if I remember correctly, 50%, think the fee should go up by NT$10," Ko said. "Twenty-five percent think it should go up by NT$5 and another 25% don’t want the price to increase. A public survey was taken before this policy decision was made."
Mayor Ko also said the city plans to spend NT$1 billion (about US$31 million) to make the YouBike system bigger and better. It plans to more than double the number of stations and bikes. It wants to increase the current 196 stations to 400 and the number of bikes from 6,000 to 13,000.
The Taipei mayor said the city is also working on other public-supported policies such as making urban spaces more friendly for children and the elderly.