Taiwan's traffic safety issues continue to attract attention from all walks of life, and with the nine-in-one general election approaching, the Next Generation Humanistic Transportation Promotion Association has drafted a "Traffic Improvement Commitment White Paper" and proposed five major demands, including physical protection of sidewalks, school safety zones, and humanistic rail construction. Currently, 106 candidates have signed it.
Huang Baisen, a policy researcher at the Next Generation Humanistic Transportation Promotion Association, explained that the number of traffic fatalities in Taiwan has remained at around 10 to 15 per 100,000 people in the past 20 years. Although the performance is similar to that of the United States, it lags behind advanced countries such as Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. Although South Korea also had a fairly high number of traffic fatalities in the past, it has actively improved through various measures in recent years and has dropped to less than 10 per 100,000 people. This shows that our country still has considerable room for effort.
Huang Baisen pointed out that my country's traffic safety-related actions lack core concepts and systematic methods for promoting traffic safety. The Promotion Association drafted the "2026 County and City Chief Candidates Traffic Improvement Commitment White Paper" and put forward five major demands, inviting county and city chiefs and public opinion representative candidates to sign.
Huang Baisen explained that the content of the appeal is based on three international frameworks: zero-death vision, road network hierarchical thinking, and self-explanatory roads. It is hoped that physically protected sidewalks for roads larger than 12 meters will be completed by 2030, and priority should be given to transforming marked sidewalks in areas around schools, hospitals, and stations. In addition, 150 meters around each public and private school should be officially designated as a school zone, and autonomy regulations should be given as a basis for implementation.
The white paper also requires that the government should protect the commuting rights of children in rural areas. Public transportation can be equipped with dedicated shuttle buses to and from classes. Railway construction such as MRT should also consider surrounding traffic routes. There should be continuous barrier-free walking routes, bicycle parking areas and physical bicycle corridors within 500 meters of the station. In the future, the government should propose an exact timetable for road space improvement, disclose relevant information, and accept feedback from the public.
Wang Jinqian, chairman of the Next Generation Humanistic Transportation Promotion Association, said that humanistic transportation is not about “driving the cars away.” Traffic reform requires understanding and implementation at the grassroots level for the reform to proceed. The village chief and local councillors often take the lead in local road survey. Therefore, in addition to local chief candidates, the support of public opinion representatives is also crucial. Currently, 106 candidates have signed the white paper.
Wu Kunfeng, a professor at the Department of Transportation and Logistics Management of Yangtze University of Technology, pointed out that elected politicians must serve voters and take on the task of communication and coordination. As long as the cooperation between politicians and the people is high enough, he believes that Taiwan's traffic safety reform can be accelerated. He also calls on the public to understand the local national conditions and policy background and subsequent impacts when referring to the experience of other countries, so that they can make judgments based on correct information.
