New Taipei City aims to improve the human-oriented traffic environment around MRT stations.

The picture shows the pedestrian crossing in front of Banqiao Station on the MRT Bannan Line.

(Photo by reporter Huang Ziyang)

Yong'an Market and Zhonghe No. 4 Park piloted sound signs to guide the visually impaired in demonstration areas

[Reporters Huang Ziyang, He Yuhua/New Taipei Report] Based on the experience of promoting Tongxue Lane, the New Taipei City Government will review the human-oriented traffic environment around 71 MRT stations in the next four years. Yunyong'an Market and Zhonghe No. 4 Park are demonstration areas for improvement, and a smart sound signal system is piloted to help the visually impaired to grasp the location and intersection conditions through mobile phone APP voice to improve safety.

In the next 4 years, 71 MRT stations will be reviewed

The city government held a road traffic safety supervision meeting report yesterday, and proposed the "MRT Living Circle Pedestrian-Friendly Plan".

Lin Zhaoxian, Chief of the Traffic Control Engineering Section of the Transportation Bureau, explained that there are about 1.8 million passengers on the Shuangbei MRT every day, and passengers will walk as soon as they leave the station. The path is a line, and the area is a surface, which is extended and improved in two stages.

Lin Zhaoxian pointed out that the improvement content includes five categories, such as signal facilities, passing space, traffic control, transfer facilities, and technological assistance; in the part of the pedestrian signal with sound, the number of seconds to pass at the intersection is extended by automatically sensing or pressing the signal on the roadside equipment, The mobile APP will immediately broadcast the name of the intersection and the seconds information in each direction to improve walking safety.

Mobile APP voice broadcast to improve walking safety for the visually impaired

He said that the first phase will be within the 100-meter surrounding area by the end of next year, and the surrounding 200-meter area will be completed by 2026. At the same time, it will include nearby schools, parks, hospitals, or facilities for the elderly. Station-by-site review meetings In addition, five places were selected for the installation of audible pedestrian signs to improve the safety of the visually impaired.

Qiu Yujun, consultant of Daoan Huibao suggested that the general walking distance is about 300 to 500 meters, and the scope can be expanded or selected key stations to expand the area for improvement; consultant Chen Aiqin believes that in addition to setting up a sound signal system, it is also necessary to exclude pedestrian crossings connected to sidewalks spatial barrier.

Lin Zhaoxian said that the improvement around the Yongan Market Station has been completed, and the Cailiao Station of the MRT has been selected as the second demonstration area. It is expected that seven locations will be improved in the first half of this year, and 30 locations will be completed by the end of the year. Various units will cooperate with the survey to speed up the improvement projects , will regularly track the progress and report to the Security Council for listing.

In addition, the traffic brigade of the New Taipei City Police Department implemented the "Pedestrian Right of Way Law Enforcement" from February to April. So far this year, 6,540 cases have been reported for non-stop pedestrian violations, compared with 3,194 cases reported from January to mid-February , the number of reports has doubled; in addition, according to statistics, there have been 662 pedestrian-involved accidents this year, a decrease of about 20% compared with the same period last year.