TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) announced on Friday (Aug. 30) the introduction of 1,500 YouBike 2.0E electric-assisted bicycles in 2024. This initiative aims to integrate these bikes into green corridors and urban bike lanes, promoting green commuting and reducing carbon emissions.
Taipei City's Department of Transportation (交通局) noted that Taoyuan City also introduced the 2.0E bikes in February, receiving positive feedback. After extensive planning and communication, Taipei and New Taipei are now ready to follow suit.
By the end of 2024, the Taipei, New Taipei, and Taoyuan regions will collectively have 3,000 bikes, increasing to 6,500 by late 2025 and 8,100 by late 2026. The transportation department reminded citizens that they must have "public bicycle injury insurance" (公共自行車傷害險) to rent YouBike 2.0E.
Addressing previous inconsistencies, Chiang stated that they're all the same now, allowing the bikes to be ridden on both shared and dedicated bike lanes.
Hou emphasized the unified approach, noting that the greater Taipei area and Taoyuan are co-living areas, so consistency would be no problem.
Chiang also highlighted plans to gradually increase the number of YouBike 2.0E vehicles, aiming for 4,500 in Taipei City by the end of 2026.
The new bikes will complement Taipei's existing 400 km urban bike network and New Taipei's green corridors, offering easier commuting and leisure options.
To address bike availability issues, Chiang mentioned using big data to optimize dispatching and adding over 7,000 bikes, ensuring a bike availability rate above 90%.
Since implementing the first 30-minute free policy in late February, daily usage increased by 40% to 177,000, with 22% of users replacing car trips with YouBike rides.
The transportation department also reminded users of the YouBike violation point system implemented in July, urging riders to prioritize pedestrian safety and adhere to traffic regulations.