Participants from various organizations biked on major roads throughout the capital city after releasing public Earth Day statements on the issue at the National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in the afternoon.

They said the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) and respective governments should improve environmental quality through the island’s transportation system.

Wen Bing-yuan, secretary general of the Green Party, noted that the transportation sector accounts for 15 percent of the total carbon dioxide emitted in Taiwan.

About 40 percent of commuters normally take daily short-distance trips of less than 10 kilometers via motorcycles, driving their own vehicles, or taking buses and other mass transportation.

Carbon dioxide generated in Taiwan will be significantly reduced if these short-distance commuters covert to bicycles, he said.

He said the government should revise existing regulations that still do not recognize bicycles as means of transportation.

The bikeways built for bikers in Taipei do not help cut pollution because they are constructed mainly in suburban areas or along rivers for exercise and leisure purposes.

People have to use cars to take their families and bikes to the bikeways because bikes cannot be used in most areas of the city.

Wen said while the number of vehicles increased by 60,000 units in Taipei City in the past five years, the number of people using bikes between the home and workplace has remained less than three percent.

The ratio is much lower than the 30 percent in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Wen and other environmentalists asked the governments of Taipei City and Taipei County to set an example of safeguarding and allowing cyclists to ride safely to work every day rather than protecting only the rights of richer people who own vehicles.

They said Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin and Taipei County Magistrate Chou Hsi-wei should join hands to build a bike traffic network in the greater Taipei area to facilitate commuting as early as possible.

Governments in other areas should also move towards the same direction in order to help achieve the goal of building a 1,000-km trail encircling the island for bikers and hikers, they added.

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