New Taipei’s first YouBike station opens in Xindian’s Dapeng Huacheng — just 10 minutes to Jimei Station

▲ Taipei’s wildly popular YouBike is now available in New Taipei too — the first station is located at the entrance of Dapeng Huacheng community in Xindian. The image above is illustrative. (Photo / Reporter Lu Y______)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

The long-debated integration of the public bicycle systems between Taipei and New Taipei finally took a major step forward as 2014 approached. Before the end of 2013, Taipei’s YouBike system set up its first station in New Taipei at the entrance of Dapeng Huacheng community in Xindian, officially launching on New Year’s Day.

The success of YouBike in Taipei has prompted other cities to follow suit. New Taipei’s originally independent public bicycle system, “NewBike,” while successfully serving as a feeder to MRTs and buses, was not compatible with the YouBike system. This led many daily commuters traveling between Taipei and New Taipei to complain, “It’s just one bridge away, yet we’re forced to use two different systems — it’s really inconvenient.”

% The “NewBike,” incompatible with Taipei’s YouBike system, faced widespread complaints about inconvenience shortly after its launch. The image below is an illustrative depiction of NewBike. (Photo / Provided by New Taipei City Environmental Protection Bureau)

The New Taipei City Government is now making good on its promise to “integrate the bicycle systems of Taipei and New Taipei.” The first YouBike station in New Taipei finally launched before the end of 2013. The initial station is located in Dapeng Huacheng community in Xindian, about a 10-minute ride from Jimei MRT Station, featuring 38 bicycles, and began offering rental services on New Year’s Day. On the launch day, many local residents were among the first to try it out, cycling along the riverside path to Jimei Station to take the MRT, exclaiming, “So convenient!”

The New Taipei City Department of Transportation stated that due to the difficulty in securing public land for bicycle stations, when planning YouBike extension sites, not only nearby Taipei stations were considered, but community locations were also included, aiming to allow citizens to “rent a bike right at their doorstep.” The primary goal going forward is to increase station installations around MRT stations, with plans to add new stations in Xindian and Xizhi in the first half of this year (2014) on a trial basis. A decision will then be made on whether to continue using the YouBike system or to develop a separate system unique to New Taipei that remains compatible with YouBike.