TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taoyuan’s YouBike program completed its upgrade to the 2.0 system earlier this year, expanding the number of stations from 200 to 487.

However, Taoyuan city councilors have raised concerns that the total number of bicycles available—11,959—has not increased since the 1.0 system, leading to a diluted distribution of bikes across the expanded network. They claim this has resulted in many stations having few or no bicycles available, frustrating commuters who often encounter empty stations, per UDN.

Taoyuan City Department of Transportation Director-General Chang Hsin-fu (張新福) addressed these concerns during a city council session. He acknowledged the issue and pledged to seek funding in next year’s budget to purchase an additional 1,400 bikes. Chang also promised to enhance bike dispatching services to meet demand better.

Chang noted that the city’s fleet includes 9,019 regular bicycles and 2,940 electric bikes. He added that the city plans to add approximately 100 new stations each year, intending to reach 750 stations by 2028.

In response to the councilors' criticisms, Chang highlighted that Taoyuan’s ratio of YouBikes to population—1 bike for every 218 residents—ranks third among Taiwan’s six special municipalities. He admitted, however, that some stations may run out of bikes due to high demand and pledged to review the turnover rate and dispatch frequency to address the problem.

Chang also entertained a proposal from Taoyuan City Councilor Yu Hsin-hsien (余信憲), who suggested offering incentives to YouBike users for returning bikes to stations that are running low, thereby enlisting riders in the redistribution effort. Chang said this idea was worth considering, though further research would be required.