The city of Taipei, Taiwan is offering its 2.6 million people a fast, low-cost way to travel around the city. City officials have launched a bicycle rental program called YouBike. Many Taiwanese are now using bicycles to go to work and other places. But the growing popularity of the program has led to new traffic problems.
Five years ago, motor scooters competed with taxis and buses for space on Taipei's narrow streets. Then the city supported a plan to start loaning bicycles to people who pay for their temporary use. Taipei followed the examples of places like Kyoto, Japan; the Chinese city of Hangzhou; and Daejeon in South Korea.
Since then, Taipei has loaned bicycles 11 million times, mostly during the past year. Bikers do not pay for the first half-hour of use. Each 30 minutes after that costs less than half of an American dollar.
Hsu Tsai-tung is a 37-year-old office worker. She rides a rented bicycle to parks, a university and her workplace.
She says one good thing about renting is that the first 30 minutes are free. And, she says biking is good because she does not move around much in her office job during the day. Waiting for a bus would mean spending time, which she saves by riding a bike. She calls biking a natural choice.
Ms. Hsu is not alone. Using the one-speed bicycles works well for many Taiwanese. The bikes can be left at any of more than 100 rental stations. The vehicles could also ease air pollution, which is a health problem in many Asian cities.
In China, for example, the city of Shanghai reported record pollution levels in December. The levels were nearly 20 times above the level considered safe by the World Health Organization.
Shen Shu-hung is with Taiwan's Environmental Protection Agency. He wants to know whether bikes have reduced Taipei's pollution. Bad air has been found to endanger commuters and people living on low building floors.
Mr. Shen says Taiwan is studying whether the rental program has reduced air pollution. He is not discussing its effectiveness at present, in case the study finds that bike renters walked or rode public transportation in the past.
And, it appears that the 5,350 bikes on the streets of Taipei today have begun to cause new problems for city traffic. People who bike through the streets have to worry about cars making illegal sudden stops and fast right turns.
Some bikers have stopped riding on the streets and started riding their bikes on sidewalks. But this has angered or frightened many walkers.
Huang Huang-chia works at the Taipei Department of Transportation. He says no one single kind of incident has happened repeatedly. But he says riders need to be better educated.
He says the city's way of dealing with such incidents will be to educate people about every kind of bicycle safety needed in Taipei.
Taipei plans to complete its program with a total of 162 rental stations by the end of this year.
The following cities applied a plan to start loaning bikes to people EXCEPT________.
A.Taipei | B.Kyoto | C.Daejeon | D.Shanghai |
According to the passage,we know that__________.
A.If you borrow a bike less than 30 minutes, you needn’t pay for it. |
B.Each day costs less than half of an American dollar. |
C.Taipei has a total of 162 rental stations or so now. |
D.You must return your bike where you borrowed it. |
Which of the following problems is caused by bicycle riders?
A.Waiting for a bus would mean spending time. |
B.The rental program has reduced air pollution. |
C.Some bikers have started riding their bikes on sidewalks. |
D.Bad air has been found to endanger commuters |
What is the main idea of the passage?
A.Bicycles riding can reduce air pollution. |
B.Bicycles solve some problems in Taipei but create others. |
C.Rental stations appears in Taipei. |
D.City officials have launched a bicycle rental program. |
Where does this text probably come from ?
A.A news report | B.Science fiction |
C.An advertisement | D.A health report |