Motorcycles Represent The Major Type of Transportation in Taiwan

By Kang-Hsin Fan


Taiwan’s population was estimated at 23 million in 2010. With its high population density and many factories, some areas in Taiwan, especially the capital city of Taipei, suffer from heavy pollution. Motor scooters are a very common means of transportation in Taiwan and contribute to urban air pollution. According to official public transportation report, there are approximately 13 million motor scooters and 5 million cars in 2010. With the data of transportation, the biggest problem in Taiwan is the omni-presence of scooters. Without the pedestrianization policy by the government, motorcyclists always park haphazardly at the side of the street or in front of shops as close to their destination as they can. The problem is that pedestrians and motorcyclists are in conflict for the use of public spaces. From the view of retailers, shoppers are not able to visit their shops with these hazardous scooters in front of there doors. This behavior clutters up the public spaces, and the development of urban design.

Moreover, some restaurants hope to create an outdoor atmosphere like the cafes of European countries to attract customers, so that they can admire the outside sunshine and the street views. With these businesses reasons, these restaurants extend their service range by arranging furniture on the pedestrian street to shape the outside atmosphere. In Taiwan, the arcade in a building is a public space for pedestrians to walk freely. As a result, who will benefit from the environmental improvement; the pedestrians, retailers, visitors, shoppers, or investors? From the view of urban design, how can they improve the growth of using motor scooters as primary transportation in Taiwan? Can public spaces improvement revive the city center? Hall (2000), states that environmental improvement is considered to be a catalyst, as the essential drivers in the city’s center try and form again.

Reference: http://www.gio.gov.tw/