Announcement unit: Transportation Engineering Section / Contact number: 04-22289111 Ext. 60462 Mr. Chen / Announcement date: 2023-11-28

Guard pedestrian safety! The Transportation Bureau of the Taichung City Government actively promotes the "Humanity-Oriented Traffic Environment" policy to inventory multiple intersections with high pedestrian traffic, such as schools, hospitals, commercial districts, civic sports centers, and public transportation stations. Through cross-bureau cooperation to optimize the transportation environment in Taichung, the city government's budget investment has also increased yearly. In 2024, the government is allocating over NTD 1.3 billion to enhance pedestrian safety and improve pedestrian traffic facilities.
According to Mayor Shiow-Yen Lu, pedestrian safety has become a major concern for the public this year. In the past, the government prioritized vehicles, followed by pedestrians, but national attitudes are gradually changing. The city government has been paying attention to this issue for years, raising funds annually to optimize sidewalks and pedestrian-friendly spaces. In 2021, the investment exceeded NTD 568 million. In 2022, it exceeded NTD 797 million. It surpassed NTD 800 million in 2023. In 2024, it was allocated over NTD 1.3 billion. The city government has been increasing its budget yearly, hoping to improve pedestrian safety and optimize traffic order. Mayor Lu mentioned that the city government continuously strengthens other transportation construction and pedestrian transportation facilities. The under-construction Taichung Transit Center won this year's first national award at the 25th National Architecture Gold Award. People have recognized its engineering quality, aesthetics, and construction rigor, which the government will complete in the second half of 2025. Upon completion, the city government aims to increase the utilization rate of public transportation, revitalize the old urban area, and foster a new economic landscape.
Mayor Lu highlighted that in response to the increased traffic volume in recent years, there has been a corresponding rise in the demand for ramps. For example, the city government will add ramps in the 19A area of Provincial Highway 74 to disperse traffic flow. Since Provincial Highway 74 is a central project, adding ramps requires the division of labor and cooperation between the central government and local governments. Local governments are responsible for land acquisition and other operations, while the central government is responsible for project construction. She especially thanked the Transportation Bureau for personally visiting all landowners in the area, including those living overseas, to communicate and reach agreements with them. At present, the bureau has obtained the consent of all landowners and received all the land required for the project, which the bureau will hand over to the central government for construction. If the central government can successfully raise the budget and start construction, it will be completed in 2025. That can enhance the transportation capacity of expressways and achieve the purpose of dispersing traffic flow.
The Transportation Bureau presented a project report titled "Humanity-Oriented Traffic Environment Building and Planning," at the Road Safety Conference held yesterday (27th). Chao-Fu Yeh, Director of the Transportation Bureau, said that Mayor Lu attaches great importance to a humanity-friendly traffic environment. We design roads to provide efficient traffic flow, achieve smooth service, and prioritize pedestrian safety to improve road safety quality. The city government has taken a multipronged approach to solve traffic problems pragmatically. Therefore, the Transportation Bureau actively reviews the pedestrian and traffic flow conditions at various intersections on a rolling basis, invites the police station, construction bureau, and other units to discuss improvement plans for each intersection jointly, and actively creates a friendly environment that lets "Taichung makes it easy for people to walk."
Director Yeh indicated that the city government continues to optimize transportation software and hardware facilities. The bureau has installed 196 pedestrian refuge islands, 126 setback crossing lines, 131 marked sidewalks, 628 green zebra crossings, 1,969 pedestrian signs, 20 crossing lights, 127 exclusive pedestrian phases, and 310 leading pedestrian intervals now. In conjunction with the Executive Yuan's "Pedestrian Priority Traffic Safety Action Plan," the bureau applied to the National Land Management Agency of the Ministry of the Interior for the "Campus Surroundings and Driving Safety Road Improvement Project." Moreover, the city government received a subsidy of NTD 39.358 million from central units under the subproject of the "Road Traffic Order and Traffic Safety Improvement Plan issued by the Executive Yuan" to improve pedestrian-friendly facilities actively.
Director Yeh explained that the city government team collaborated to create a transportation environment that citizens could truly experience, showcasing the power of unity and fostering a safer and more friendly transportation system. By inviting relevant units to carry out on-the-spot surveys, the Transportation Bureau leveraged the effectiveness of horizontal connections to add new traffic facilities such as line setbacks, green zebra crossings, pedestrian refuge islands, exclusive pedestrian phases, or leading pedestrian intervals. The bureau also scrolls through traffic accident hot spots, provides timely warnings and improvements, and diverts people and vehicles by time and space to improve pedestrian safety. In addition, the Construction Bureau has improved 98 kilometers of sidewalks and 118 school zone sidewalks, totaling 32 kilometers. The Urban Development Bureau's arcade leveling project has completed 103 road sections with a full size of approximately 159,901 meters. Besides, the Police Department also implemented the "Justice for Pedestrian Enforcement" in four stages of enforcement promotion. It established a propaganda team to promote slowing down, looking, and stopping at intersections to enhance citizens' road usage culture.
The Transportation Bureau added that the development of pedestrian safety policies involves leveraging the expertise of various cross-bureau offices. Each bureau jointly implements the 3E method of engineering, education, and law enforcement to improve pedestrian safety. For example, the Parking Management Office has processed 161 removing motorcycles from pedestrian walkways to enhance pedestrian safety. The Public Transportation & Rapid Transit System Office cooperates with various pedestrian patterns to properly set up various waiting facilities while improving the waiting environment and pedestrian safety. According to the Transportation Bureau, it will continue cooperating with the rolling review of pedestrian and vehicle conditions at various intersections, work with cross-bureau offices to expand and improve pedestrian traffic facilities, and achieve the goal of "having love without hindrance, safe and smooth pedestrian traffic."