Project Overview
After Taiwan was labeled a “pedestrian hell” by CNN, pedestrian and student safety issues garnered widespread attention, becoming an urgent improvement priority for central and local governments. In response, Taoyuan City Government’s Maintenance Engineering Office team developed short-term, medium-term, and long-term implementation plans.
The short-term goal focuses on creating demonstration areas, including completing one model school pathway each in South and North Taoyuan, and implementing school pathways for 12 elementary and junior high schools across Taoyuan City’s 12 administrative districts by 2023. This aims to enhance student safety and convenience while serving as a model for improvements in other areas.
The medium-term goal involves allocating annual budgets to comprehensively improve school pathways for all elementary and junior high schools in Taoyuan City. This measure will address needs across all city districts, ensuring project continuity through guaranteed funding.
The long-term goal expands from schools as starting points to include MRT stations, train stations, and major commercial areas in the overall pedestrian network planning, while seeking central government forward-looking budget support. This helps create more comprehensive school pathways, incorporating more key areas to enhance the city’s overall pedestrian-friendliness, enabling citizens to walk and shop more safely and comfortably throughout the city.
Through these efforts, Taoyuan City Government aims to continuously increase the coverage of school pathways around campuses, creating safe, barrier-free, and comfortable pedestrian environments, making Taoyuan a city that is “easy to walk, easy to shop, and safe to travel.”
Implementation Benefits
Focusing on students, the “School Vicinity Environmental Inspection” initiative aims to improve road design and pedestrian pathways, providing high-quality walking spaces to encourage walking, reduce dependence on automobiles, and promote healthy lifestyles. Pedestrian-friendly road designs not only ensure safe and secure routes for students but also invigorate urban spaces, foster community interactions, and contribute to creating an accessible and safe public realm in a friendly city.
Through cross-departmental collaboration involving schools, the Department of Education, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Public Works, the Department of Urban Development, the Police Department, and district offices, a comprehensive evaluation of student walkway needs is conducted. Together, these entities work to advance student-friendly walking environments through seven key methods: improving, connecting, constructing, and integrating pathways. Projects are reviewed on a rolling basis with short-, medium-, and long-term objectives to systematically enhance the environments around schools year by year.
By improving public walkways, enhancing street environments, and elevating urban aesthetics, streets can once again become an integral part of students' recreational lives. Efforts are focused on enhancing intersection safety and establishing coherent public walkway systems that connect schools and communities, making walking for students both enjoyable and safe.
The School Walkway Corridor Program not only ensures safe routes for children commuting to and from school but also provides weather-protective bus shelters to make pick-up and drop-off more convenient for parents. Within four years, Taoyuan City aims to comprehensively upgrade pathways around all schools, achieving the three pillars of pedestrian safety: “easy to walk, pleasant to explore, and secure for all.”