Bicycle Safety Education Starts from the Roots: Ministry of Transportation Subsidizes Local Governments
2026/6/2 14:40 (Updated 6/2 15:06)
Minister of Transportation Chen Shih-kai (front right) said on the 2nd that starting this year, funding will be provided to subsidize local governments to promote "Elementary School Bicycle Safety Culture Education," hoping to establish bicycle safety education from an early age. Photo by Huang Chiao-wen, Central News Agency, June 2, 2026
(Taipei, 2nd, Central News Agency reporter Huang Chiao-wen) To strengthen students' knowledge of safe bicycle riding, Minister of Transportation Chen Shih-kai said today that starting this year, funding will be provided to subsidize cities and counties to promote elementary school bicycle safety culture education, aiming to establish it from an early age, with the goal that every child will have taken at least one relevant course during their six years of elementary school.
The Highway Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation held a Taiwan-Japan Bicycle Safety Culture Exchange Forum today, gathering experts and organizations from Taiwan and Japan related to transportation, bicycle promotion, and safety education. At the opening of the forum, the Bicycle New Culture Foundation and the Japan Council for Bicycle Use Environment Improvement (JCC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on "Taiwan-Japan Bicycle Promotion and Safety Education Exchange and Cooperation."
Yesterday, Chen Shih-kai visited Dongmen Elementary School in Taipei City to participate in a Taiwan-Japan bicycle safety education exchange observation activity and accompanied young children in interactive experiences. Speaking at the forum today, he mentioned that he saw how Japanese bicycle safety education teaching, through a one-hour course, allowed children to go from nervousness to learning several things, including balance, concentration, reading signals, and avoiding possible collisions. He believes that Taiwan should also have such teaching and educational capabilities.
Chen Shih-kai pointed out that besides developing the bicycle industry and riding culture, the Ministry of Transportation is also improving hardware infrastructure. The Round-Taiwan Route 1 has been completed, and Route 2 will be completed by the end of this year. The latter will have a higher proportion, nearly 40%, of dedicated bike lanes, making cycling safer.
In addition to hardware construction, Chen Shih-kai said that through the MOU, he hopes for deeper cooperation on bicycle safety education in the future, and expects bicycle safety education to be established from an early age. The goal is for every child to have taken at least one bicycle safety education course during their six years of elementary school. He emphasized, "Children's education cannot wait, and children's safety education certainly cannot wait."
Chen Shih-kai noted that starting this year, funding will be provided to subsidize local governments to promote "Elementary School Bicycle Safety Culture Education." In the future, the ministry will work closely with the Ministry of Education, local governments, and civil groups to penetrate elementary school campuses, especially targeting upper-grade students, using a dual approach of "theoretical knowledge" and "practical operation" to strengthen students' safe cycling knowledge, equipping them with correct riding skills and response capabilities.
Chen Shih-kai mentioned that he hopes all children in Taiwan will value traffic safety from a young age. When they ride bicycles as children and use other modes of transportation as they grow up, they will naturally have safety awareness. (Editor: Li Hengshan) 1150602
