The World Bicycle Day will be held in Taichung for the first time on June 3rd. Dr. Leszek Sibilski, the founder of this event, visited Taichung City Government today (April 11th) to meet with Mayor Lu Shiow-yen. She pointed out that Taichung City has a solid foundation in the bicycle industry and she hopes to create a bicycle-friendly city through the three ways: “integration with public transportation systems”, “carbon credit trading”, and “lifestyle”. Mayor Lu stated that Taichung's iBike system has accumulated nearly 70 million rides, with a record of 1.59 million rides in a single month, and she hopes that the bicycle industry in Taichung will continue to thrive.

Today, Mayor Lu, the Director of the Tourism Bureau, Chen Mei-hsiu, and the Deputy Director of the Transportation Bureau, Jiang Jun-liang, met with Dr. Leszek Sibilski, the founder of World Bicycle Day, Chairman Liu Li-chu from the Cycling Lifestyle Foundation and You Bike, Executive Director Wang Mei-wen of Cycling Lifestyle Foundation, and Director Liang Song-tun from YouBike Zhongying Branch. They had a discussion on the upcoming World Bicycle Day on June 3 in Taichung and the future development of the city as a bicycle-friendly city. Both sides agreed on the ideal goal for the development of the cycling city.

“Taichung is a bicycle city!” said Mayor Lu, emphasizing that Taichung has stable weather and beautiful scenery, and is home to many important bike companies. Since taking office, she has been promoting the “iBike Double Growth Plan,” and within four years, the number of iBike stops has expanded to about 1,300, which is the largest amount in the country. In addition, Taichung City has also implemented a friendly policy of “Free for the first half hour of iBike rides,” which not only promotes citizens’ health and well-being, but also effectively saves energy, reduces carbon emissions, and solves the problems of traffic congestion. The World Bicycle Day will be held in Taichung on June 3, and Mayor Lu hopes that the city government, Dr. Leszek Sibilski, and the YouBike Company will work together to make Taichung a bicycle-friendly city and promote the thriving development of the bicycle industry.

Mayor Lu also mentioned the “free for the first half hour of iBike rides” policy in Taichung City, which allocates approximately NT$100 million annually to facilitates commuting, schooling, and traveling for citizens. Many citizens make smart use of this policy by changing bikes after 30 minutes of riding. Some councilors have suggested strengthening regulation to increase government revenue, but Mayor Lu believes that this measure can encourage citizens to use public transportation more, reduce air pollution and traffic accidents. Therefore, she would rather maintain the current policy. If the budget is sufficient in the future, she may even consider allowing citizens to ride for free. This policy has been successful in Taichung, and other cities have followed suit. Taipei City used to provide a subsidy of NT$5 for the first 30 minutes, but now it is planning to offer the first 30 minutes for free.

Dr. Leszek Sibilski expressed his delight that Mayor Lu has such a forward-looking vision for bicycle development. Although this measure may not have short-term results, it has tremendous long-term benefits, and he hopes that Mayor Lu will not give up on her efforts to promote it continuously. The World Bicycle Day will be held in Taichung on June 3, which is a great opportunity for Taiwan and Taichung to shine on the world stage. Although Dr. Leszek Sibilski cannot attend the activity, his heart will be with everyone on that day.

Dr. Leszek Sibilski proposed three suggestions: First, he suggested integrating the bicycle transportation system with the public transportation system, which has already been achieved by 193 countries worldwide. Second, although not a new idea, he proposed carbon credit trading, which is rarely successfully implemented. Third, he plans to collaborate with the United Nations to establish a new resolution to encourage people to change their lifestyle. We feel an immense gratitude for the opportunity to discuss the topic and hopes that more bicycle development policies can be implemented in the future to make Taiwan participate in the world cycling event and create a healthy, happy, beautiful, and livable city.

Mayor Lu expressed her satisfaction and stated that these three suggestions are in line with her own ideas. The Taichung iBike system is already a part of the public transportation system and the city government is working hard to promote it. In addition, selling carbon credits generated by citizens riding bicycles to private enterprises can increase the city's revenue and support public transportation is also a good idea. Finally, she encouraged everyone to use public transportation more. She hopes that Dr. Leszek Sibilski will stay in touch with the city government, and Taichung is willing to be one of the cities supporting important proposals at the United Nations. The city promises to expand the celebration of World Bicycle Day on June 3 in Taichung and fully cooperate to make it successful and promote World Bicycle Day in Taichung. Mayor Lu welcomes Dr. Leszek Sibilski to Taichung anytime to provide suggestions and work together to promote great ideas.

Director of Tourism Bureau Chen Meixiu stated that in 2018, the United Nations designated June 3 as “World Bicycle Day”, and since 2019, the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has been organizing events to participate in World Bicycle Day. Last year, more than 2,500 people across Taiwan rode together to respond to the World Bicycle Day event. This year, the event will be held for the first time in central Taiwan on June 3, and the Tourism Bureau's long-established event brand “Taichung Bike Carnival” will also be held in conjunction with the World Bicycle Day event. Taiwan is the kingdom of the bicycle industry, and most of the bicycle-related industries are in central Taiwan. This year, World Bicycle Day will be held in Taichung for the first time, and on that day, it will relate to international friends, greatly increasing Taichung City's international visibility.

The transportation department has pointed out that the city government has been promoting the "iBike Doubling Growth Plan" since the end of 2020. Over the past two years, more than 1,000 stations have been added. Currently, Taichung has the largest number of rental stations and electric bicycles in the country, along with a policy of the first 30 minutes free. As of early April, this year, the cumulative number of riders has reached more than 69.37 million, and the monthly number of riders has continued to break records, with the highest number of riders reaching 1.59 million.

The Tourism Bureau also pointed out that Mayor Lu has placed importance on the construction and development of leisure-oriented bicycle paths since taking office. In recent years, the city government has integrated resources from various departments to continuously optimize and connect bicycle routes. The leisure-oriented bicycle paths in Taichung attract an average of about 10 million visitors per year and generate approximately NT$20.6 billion in tourism revenue.