Click：31
Division：運輸管理科
Date：113-06-07
Transportation Bureau invited citizens to discuss pedestrian safety at the “Pedestrian Safety Improvement Wishing Pool Workshop”
[Kaohsiung News] In order to reinforce road safety, the Transportation Bureau held the “Pedestrian Traffic Safety Improvement Wishing Pool Workshop” on the 18th, inviting road users from all industries to discuss and exchange ideas. The Director General Shuchuan Chang indicated that creating a pedestrian-friendly environment and improving road safety and preventing accidents are important transportation policies for Kaohsiung, and that the Transportation Bureau will incorporate them into its future policies after hearing the public's opinion.
In response to the citizens' comments, the Transportation Bureau has first collected citizens' opinions by posting the “Pedestrian Traffic Safety Improvement Wish Pool” on its Facebook fan page, which has been provided to various public authorities as a reference for implementing their policies; furthermore, in order to allow the public to engage in a thorough discussion, the Transportation Bureau has conducted exchanges through the workshop to practice the civic engagement, which will serve as an important reference for the city government's future policies and plans.
Kaohsiung City takes “human-oriented traffic” as a major policy; besides placing a lot of large-scale pedestrian signals so that elders can see more clearly and drawing a line to provide space for vehicles to stop and yield for pedestrians in recent years, the city government has also implemented a pedestrian traffic improvement project on many roads around major stations, including Dashun Road and Ruilong Road. The city government has improved 82 intersections vulnerable to pedestrians in this year and completed the Campus Traffic Safety Improvement Plan in 154 schools; thus, create a safe space for pedestrians to stop in restricted road space.
The meeting was divided into groups with the topics of “Signs”, “Markings”, and “Pedestrian Works”. The Transportation Bearu and the chief editor of “Marking Transformation for Roads in Taiwan”, Mr. Kuan-Chieh Liu, were the team leaders and nearly 30 citizens and civic organizations attended the discussion. First, they were guided to point out the current problems of pedestrian traffic safety from their own experience, and then to summarize the suggestions and formulate the feasible strategies for improvement, and to share the results of the discussion on each topic.
Participants in the meeting were enthusiastic to suggest, Kaohsiung City Councilors Bo Yang Chang, Chao Yin Pai, Chin-Yen Huang and Hsiang Shu Huang participated in the discussion. Bo Yang Chang who attended the workshop in person said the workshop can provide two-way communication, in addition to letting the public know more about the traffic design, but also allows the Bureau to better understand the public's needs, so we may propose to organize the workshop on a regular basis. Participants also suggested that “more exclusive pedestrian interval, pedestrian refuge islands, additional left-turn lanes and sidewalks, as well as road improvement, can provide road users a safe space to pass through”.
“It's great to be able to speak freely today, and to realize that there are many considerations and details in formulating a policy, and that each person has a different opinion, so I hope that pedestrian traffic safety in Kaohsiung City will be improved in the future,” said Wang, a citizen of Kaohsiung who attended the workshop.
The workshop was very successful, bringing up many different ideas from the public and generating more traffic safety improvements, which will serve as an important reference for the city government's future policy planning.
