Project Description:

Chinese Taipei is known as the “Bicycle Kingdom” and its leading bicycle brands are well-known around the world. With the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) integrating ministry and agency resources and working with local governments, nearly 7,900 kilometers of bicycle lanes have been built across the country. It not only provides a safe, continuous, and friendly cycling environment for the public, but also has a high user population and high density of bicycle lanes in various places, successfully driving the domestic trend of cycling around the island. In 2023, the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications was elevated to the Tourism Administration, establishing a dual-pronged transformation strategy centered on “sustainability” and “digitalization.” Aligned with this strategy and the goals of this competition, cycling, as a sustainable mode of transportation, and information disclosure, a key aspect of digital transformation, are both integral components. To promote low-carbon tourism, the Tourism Administration actively markets large-scale cycling events to an international audience and provides information through a multilingual, single-information platform. Consequently, this submission focuses on marketing Chinese Taipei as an international cycling destination.

Project Cost Description

This project aims to effectively market cycling tourism to international visitors and establish a unified information platform to provide comprehensive cycling-related information. However, marketing represents the final stage of the cycling tourism process, and the overall plan relies heavily on various preparatory tasks, such as route maintenance and facility upkeep. The plan encompasses funding from both central and local governments, making it challenging to provide a precise overall cost estimate.

Capital Cost total: $(USD)
– Project funds
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications Bicycle Lane Expansion Plan spans from 2024 to 2028, encompassing four years of implementation and a total budget of NT$5.775 billion (approximately US$200 million). For 2024, the allocated budget is NT$1.2 billion (approximately US$40 million). The MOTC’s Highway Bureau will receive NT$846.8 million, while the Tourism Administration will receive NT$336.2 million, accounting for the majority of the plan’s funding.
– Subsidy funds
Taking Taipei City as an example, the shared bicycle program offers a unique incentive to encourage cycling: the first 30 minutes of each ride are free. This initiative is funded by a subsidy that covers the cost of these free rides, which account for approximately 50% of all rentals. The annual budget for this subsidy is NT$357 million (over US$10 million).

Change in societal cost per year: $(USD)
– Reduce health insurance expenditures by approximately NT$3 billion (approximately US$100 million) per year