Although bike sharing has been huge in Europe for years, it’s now making its way into North America and Asia, and doing so with a big impact. Taiwan is the first Asian country to launch a bike sharing program, and it’s being kicked off this spring in two cities, Taipei and Kaohsiung.
Although bike sharing has been huge in Europe for years, it’s now making its way into North America and Asia, and doing so with a big impact. Taiwan is the first Asian country to launch a bike sharing program, and it’s being kicked off this spring in two cities, Taipei and Kaohsiung. Large cities in Asia are known for having big traffic and emissions problems, and the bike sharing is being launched by the government as one of several green initiatives to get people out of their cars. Kaohsiung’s program began early in March with 4,500 bikes at 20 stations throughout the city, while Taipei’s program was much smaller, with only 500 bikes (to compare, Montréal’s Bixi bike sharing service launched with 3,000 bikes at 300 stations). So far, the system seems to be a huge success, and Taiwan officials are looking to expand the number of stations in Kaohsiung to around 120. Will this system catch on in other urban centres? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
