Non-folding, unbagged - is that still only allowed on the weekend?
Would like to go Zhongshan to Tamshui (or Hongshulin) on Friday pm off-peak.
The regs say no, but just wondering if they’d added off-peak access lately?
http://english.trtc.com.tw/ct.asp?xitem=1056555&CtNode=11766&mp=122032
[quote=“Nuit”]Non-folding, unbagged - is that still only allowed on the weekend?
Would like to go Zhongshan to Danshui (or Hongshulin) on Friday pm off-peak.
The regs say no, but just wondering if they’d added off-peak access lately?
http://english.trtc.com.tw/ct.asp?xitem=1056555&CtNode=11766&mp=122032[/quote]
Still no. Only allowed on weekends and public holidays.
Thanks. That’s a pity.
Are there are plans in the works to expand this to weekdays too, limited hours? Has this even been discussed by the authorities? I’ve taken advantage of the weekend allowance for bicycles, works great, and the MRT staff were super to me.
It may be a no as far as the rules go… but about two weeks ago I was moving house and took my bike from liuzhangli - taipei main station at about 6pm on a thursday (or maybe it was friday, I can’t remember now).
Cleaned the oil and grease away from the chain area before setting off to make sure I didn’t ruin anyones trousers/dresses. Took the wheels off outside the station, held them in one hand, and the frame in the other. Had no problems. Just had to be swift with the swipe-card at the gates.
Use a bit of string to hold both wheels easily in one hand. Using the wheel-chair/wider swipe gate, and getting on the MRT carriage at the end of the platform would probably make sense too.
Off-peak and with no line-changes to make? I’d say just go for it.
I saw a guy with a unicycle in a black bag on the MRT the other day, that’s basically a bike right?
Anything (even a bike with its wheels off) in a bag is considered luggage, so the bike rules don’t apply.
Speaking of bagging your bike. Does anyone know were to get a “light” bike bag? I got one from Giant, but it is very bulky and heavy. Not ideal, to be honest.
I got a light bag from the big Merida store in Kaohsiung (on R17??) for about £35. It takes my 60cm road bike with the wheels off and folds down to fit in its own carry bag - about the size of a small shoebox - when not in use. It’s in the boot of me car at the moment - I’ll get the name/brand later.
EDIT: It says LOTUS on the bag.
Wheel pockets inside + 3 or 4 smaller pockets + shoulder strap.
Thanks for the info. I will check into it.
The link above (2013) seems to be dead.
Here is what I found today:
The highlighted stations in the map are the stations where you CANNOT load/unload your bike (the title of this map should be “Stations that cannot be used by Passengers Traveling with Bicycles”)
And here are the conditions for bringing bikes into the Taipei MRT (looks like CtNode changed):
http://english.metro.taipei/ct.asp?xItem=1056555&ctNode=79078&mp=122036
Ah, the Wenhu Line–showing yet again why it is the pride of Taipei!
Guy
Notice this today getting on the MRT. I guess it helps identify where you can take your bicycle. Taiwan sure seems to be a great place to ride a bike and they try harder and harder to make it easy for people.
Up to a point.
Then again, this is what I encounter every day on the bike. Nobody gives a flying f…
Those have actually been there for awhile. To be quite honest, I break the 2x per standing area rule all the time. Better to lean our bikes against the wall/door to conductor’s cabin than to be in the middle of the standing area.
Wait…Tainan has bike lanes as the outer lane? How does that makes sense?
Outer lane makes sense. However, that picture with the taxis parked on the inner (towards the center of the road) bike lane is weird.
There are often half a dozen along there. That’s just a Streetview grab. I don’t usually carry a camera.
It’s an odd piece of road, even by Tainan/Taiwan standards, but it’s convenient for taxis so the rest of us can just 'k off. Complete waste of paint and what they paid someone to apply said paint.
I despair.
No it’s not. The area outside the conductor’s cabin is reserved for the disabled. I’ve seen people in wheelchairs not being able to get into that space because some selfish cyclist took up the space. (And the said cyclist is usually so engrossed in his phone that he fails to see his infraction.) I realize it’s easier to just go for the handicapped area when the center pole has a couple people grabbing onto it. But if you can just say a loud “bu hao yi si,” people will usually give way to you, and wheelchair-bound people will appreciate it.
I haven’t had the problem in a group yet. Nonetheless, I can assure we aren’t the sorts to get engulfed in our phones and act like we don’t see handicapped in need of the space. From what I can remember, I’ve only ran into this issue when I was alone. The wheelchair + helper and I shared the space. It was a bit cramped and hard for me to exit when I needed to, but it is what it is.
You do make a good point. Normally, if it’s later in the day and we’re on the train, it’s because we’re just too exhausted to ride home. However, exhaustion doesn’t really trump handicapped. We also love giving each other crap and bantering, so someone calling someone else out is likely to happen.
Another reason I personally stay away from the standing area one door down from the end is because the bike gets filthy and the chain can really get us into trouble if it came in contact with the wrong person. Not saying I would rather avoid a bad encounter and stand in the handicap area, but I have good reason to break the 2x bike rule.
When you say you’re in a group, I hope you guys are keeping just two bikes to each pole. That’s what the 2x refers to. So when a train pulls into the station and the door opens in front of you, you see that there’re already two bikes in there, you should quickly go to the next door (hoping that the pole there is bikeless) or wait for the next train, instead of barging in and taking up the handicapped area. I’ve seen this happen too many times and it’s a pet peeve of mine. (I’ve even seen someone actually PARKING his bike in the handicapped area while he sits in a seat elsewhere.)
As for avoiding hitting people with your bike, I usually pull my bike far away from the side that opens to allow easier flow of foot traffic.
