Taipei motorcyclists protest limited parking space, fines

City Council members Hsu Shu-hua and Lee Wen-ying and motorcyclists held a press conference to criticize the city government for taking motorcyclists as the ATMs (automated teller machines) by fining them for illegal parking but making no effort to solve the problem. They blasted the officials and traffic police for not understanding and attacking the root of the problem, but have instead squeezing the people for their hard-earned money.

The council members said the city government has in recently years imposed ban on parking of motorcycles on the sidewalks of 335 roads and streets. The well-meant measure will be expanded to an additional 16 streets by the end of June.

However, the city government has failed to find new places for motorcycle parking, forcing the motorcyclists to leave their bikes in alleys or narrow lanes. This can pose serious safety hazards, especially when blocking the fire engines, they said. They pointed out the city government inaugurated eight new parking lots so far this year with space for more than 1,000 cars. But there are only 300 spaces for motorcycles. They urged the city government to make the effort to solve the parking problem for motorcyclists.

Riding motorcycles remains the most popular transport means for people living and working in the Greater Taipei area, that includes also the adjacent Taipei County and Keelung City. As high as 28.8 percent of people choose motorcycles for working and other transport purposes for convenience, high mobility and relatively lower maintenance costs, followed by the mass rapid transit (MRT) networks, 25 percent; and buses and private cars, 21.1 percent each.

The number of motorcyclists is expected to continue to increase as more motorists said they consider to switch to motorbikes for lower fuel cost.