David on Formosa

Paris, Taipei: Bicycles Forever (巴黎.台北 單車萬歲) is a documentary directed by Jean-Robert Thomann (尚若白). It looks at the experience of bicycle commuters in Paris and Taipei. I went to the premiere screening at Eslite Dunnan Bookstore today and it will screen on PTS (公視) tomorrow. The documentary explores the attitudes of those who have chosen [...]

Following the bike ride yesterday there were more activities in Taipei City today to mark Car Free Day (無車日). Passengers travelling on buses to the Xinyi Special District were given free rides if they used an Easy Card (悠遊卡). The streets around Taipei City Hall were closed to traffic, although buses were still permitted. The [...]

On my visit to Kaohsiung I was keen to check out the Kaohsiung MRT system. The red line (north-south) officially opened in March this year and the orange line (east-west) is scheduled to open next month. They were still busy doing work around the entrances of the orange line stations, so I am not sure [...]

Push car railways are an interesting and unique feature of Taiwanese railway history. Push cars, known as daisha in Japanese (台車 in Chinese), were a key form of transport in Taiwan during the Japanese era. Knapp writes that they were an "important and short-lived form of intermediate technology". Although most studies focus on the role [...]

The May 2008 edition of Bike Smiling (微笑單車上路) was held on Sunday 25 May. My bilingual report can be found on the Bike Smiling blog. (The Chinese has benefited from some good editing!). Thanks to Victor and Mike of Cycle Taiwan for joining the ride.  I'd also like to feature this photo of Barking's wonderful [...]

There is some good news for cyclists from the Taipei MRT (via Rank). Cyclists can now take their bicycles on the blue line of the MRT. Some conditions still apply and it is only at certain stations. The MRT has also reduced the ticket price for bicycles and their riders to NT$80. Further details from [...]