To boost ridership and to encourage the residents in making good use of the public transportation, the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation has been allowing people to bring their bicycles on board starting this month, with a 40% discount on bicycle ticket fare.

And we are already feeling the effect with the new measure, with the number of MRT passengers tripling over the past two days.

In a move to increase ridership, the Kaohsiung MRT has begun allowing travelers to bring bicycles onto trains, eliminated a ban on bicycles being brought onto trains during peak travel hours, and slashed bicycle tickets from 100 NT to 60 NT.

In the past, the average number of travelers with bicycles stood at 15 per day on weekdays and 50 per day on weekends.

On May 1st, the number increased to 170. However, some cyclists say that the most expensive ticket that can be purchased on the MRT costs 60 NT, and that it is unfair that folding bicycles can be brought onto trains for free.

A number of commuters, meanwhile, say that there is no room for bicycles on trains during peak hours.

The Kaohsiung MRT periodically launches new measures to increase ridership, but results have been limited. Daily ridership has so far never surpassed 150,000.