Department of Transportation

1. Vision and Objectives

1. Energy Efficiency, CO2 Reduction, Roadway Space Sharing, and Promoting Eco-friendly Transportation
2. The establishment of a lifestyle-specific (leisure, travel and shopping) bike lane network, offering Taipei citizens a safe and friendly biking environment
   
   

2. What's special about the bike lane networks

1. The trail reaches Minquan East Road in the north, and extends southward to Keelung Road at 4.6 kilometers in length (the south stretch is 2.3 km; north, 2.3 km)
2. The trail travels north and guide bikers to turn right on Minquan East Road to Guanshan Riverside Park by the Keelung River, connecting to the riverside bike lane; and it travels southward along Keelung Road, or the NTU campus to reach Gongguan New Waterfront World
3. The trail forms a cross-shaped shaded veranda with the Renai bike lane
4. In the future, the bike lane will form a "丰"-shaped bikeway network along downtown's Main boulevards with bike trails next to the newly renovated MRT Songshan Line (Nanjing East Road) and Xinyi Line (Xinyi Road)
5. The trails will connect Songshan Airport, the Taipei Arena commercial district, Dunhua South Road commercial District, Gongguan and Xinyi commercial districts

3. Construction Schedule

　Construction of the network would be divided into two stages. Work began on February 2nd, 2009 for the northern stretch (Minquan East Road to Zhongxiao East Road) in stage one, and was completed on July 29th of the same year. Stage two started on May 11th for the southern section (Zhongxiao East Road to Keelung Road) and would be wrapped up on August 31st, 2009.

4. Planning and Design Features

1. The construction of the bike lanes was in fact the utilization of roadside parking and side ditches, using 50-cm lane dividing slabs and markings to separate the lanes from the ordinary carriageways and accommodate the two-meter-wide, one-way bike lanes for the northern section. For the southern stretch, markings were used to separate the lanes from the ordinary carriageways and accommodate the 1.7-meter-wide, one-way bike lanes.
2. The bike lanes feature green pavement, and are installed with the 1.2-meter-wide shared roadway spaces (with red pavement) alongside bus platforms, taxi waiting areas, and cargo loading/unloading zones, reminding bikers to slow down and yield the right-of-way to pedestrians.
3. Some of the motorcycle bays and motorcycle parking lots on sidewalks will be transformed into bike parking area. A total of 461 bike parking slots will be made available.
4. The side ditches will now accommodate cast-in-place, instead of precast. Roadside manholes will now be revamped with concrete pavement to enhance smooth bike travels.
5. The original temporary parking for boarding and alighting passengers along yellow lines by the sidewalks will now be relocated next to the lane dividing slabs.

Lane pavement before construction (the dense manholes and the rough
and uneven surfaces in the precast side ditches do not meet bikers' demands for a smooth pavement)

The bottom layer of the pavement after construction was concrete

The cross-section after construction

Before constructing, there are 1-2 meters gap between the bus platform and sidewalks,
so bike riders should wait until all passengers get on
and off the bus, and then follow the guided space to move.
It's dangerous for the motorcyclists in the picture to change carriageway and overtake the bus

The diagram of bus platform after construction

The diagram of the taxi waiting area after construction

The diagram of loading area after construction

Pickup areas by Dun-hua Elementary School will be available to cars
and motorcycles to temporarily drop off and pick up schoolchildren

No temporary parking will be allowed in areas
where red lines are shown on the slabs of lane at the northern stretch.

The section of yellow channelizing lines inside the temporary parking
area is available for boarding and alighting passengers

Motorbikes are allowed to pass across bike lanes
and enter motorcycle parking bays by crossing the dotted lines on the right

Colored pavement extends to the parking entrance; dotted lines are added to indicate that cars
and motorcycles are allowed crossing here. Vehicles of various kinds have to beware of each other;
drivers need to slow down when making turns

5. Points of Attention

(1) Cars

1. Cars can only travel on the two inner carriageways beside the bike lanes.
2. No parking and driving along all bike lanes.
3. Temporary parking is allowed along yellow side.
4. Heed oncoming bikes from the back when making turns at the intersections

(2) Motorcycles

1. Motorcyclists are allowed to pass across bike lanes to enter and leave motorcycle parking bays inside the dotted lines.
2. Motorcycling is illegal on bike lanes
3. Motorcycle should slow down, turn on the lamp and let bike riders go first when making turns at the intersections

(3) Buses

1. Boarding and alighting passengers at the middle carriageway are not allowed.
2. Pull into bus platform areas where reserved bus spaces are specifically marked (trough markings); do not trespass into bike lanes
3. Buses should slow down when pulling into bus platform

(4) Trucks

1. Trucks should park in specific loading bays when loading/unloading cargos
2. Heed oncoming bikes from the back when loading/unloading cargos

(5) Taxis

1. Cab drivers should line up to wait for passenger pickups in specific taxi bays
2. Illegal parking or double parking is banned along red lines
3. Temporary parking to drop off passengers along yellow lines is allowed

(6) Bikes

1. Bikers should not ride in the reverse direction
2. Bikes should slow down and let pedestrians go first in the red pavement area
3. Bikers should slow down and switch to the internal lane in schoolchildren drop-off and pickup areas on the red pavement, where temporary parking is allowed when schoolchildren rush to/get out of schools
4. Heed motorcyclists entering and leaving the parking bays, and slow down
5. Bikers have no specific right-of-way when they approach intersections; slow down and heed cars and motorcycles making turns

6. What's Special about Dunhua North and South Roads

1. Lanes outside the dividing islands are 9.5- to 10 meters wide, at two to three lanes in total. There are 2 one-way lanes inside the dividing islands; southbound lanes are installed with one bus lane (the stretch between Minquan East Road to Renai Road)
2. There are 19 intersections with traffic signals, and 55 horizontally crossed roadways
3. There are 16 bus routes on Dunhua South Road, with 6 stops, and 22 bus routes on Dunhua North Road, with 12 stops
4. There were 94 parking spaces along the roads, 1,122 motorcycle parking slots, including parking bays and sidewalk parking grids)
5. There are 7 taxi waiting areas (at 26 lots), 19 loading and unloading areas, and 2 schoolchildren pickup sections
   

2009-09-02