Department of Sports, Taipei City Government

Taipei City launched the “Taipei Safe Walking Plan” in 2023, forming a cross-department task force built around four priorities: smoother pedestrian environments, safer intersections, safer turning for large vehicles, and road design centered on people. Road safety improvements are becoming visible across the city. Pedestrian injuries and fatalities dropped from 280 cases in December 2022 to 144 cases in October 2025, showing a steady decline. Overall public satisfaction reached 82.5 percent, and community participation in pedestrian-friendly zone development continues to grow, with 38 neighborhoods already joining efforts to build a city that encourages walking.

The Department of Transportation explains that the plan includes 35 action items implemented through cooperation among city agencies. Street improvements include removing motorcycles from sidewalks along 21 road sections, adding or upgrading about 42.8 km of painted sidewalks, widening 13.8 km of physical sidewalks, and leveling 5.4 km of arcade walkways. These changes help seniors, wheelchair users, and families with strollers travel more safely. Intersection upgrades include 146 setback crosswalks and refuge islands, colorful crosswalk markings around 256 schools, pedestrian head-start signals at 1,280 locations, and pedestrian-only signal phases at 37 intersections, gradually encouraging mutual respect between drivers and pedestrians.

The city also launched improvement projects in high-activity areas near schools, hospitals, and parks. Walking routes around 223 schools have already been upgraded. Improvements were completed at 74 locations near hospitals and parks. Cooperation with neighborhood leaders around Taipei Veterans General Hospital led to sidewalk widening, curb extensions, painted sidewalks, removal of motorcycles from sidewalks, and construction of motorcycle parking bays. Elderly visitors, wheelchair users, medical staff, and nearby residents all report noticeable improvements.

Officials note that expansion of pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods began in 2023 with a pilot project in Daxue Village and continues citywide. Measures such as traffic calming in alleys, lane reductions, and connected walking spaces improve community safety. Thirty-eight neighborhoods now participate, and successful experiences have been shared with national and local governments as reference cases. Future plans include further expansion of pedestrian facilities, reducing reliance on cars and motorcycles, increasing walking activity, and building Taipei into a city where safe and comfortable streets become part of everyday life.