University Students in Philippines and Taiwan
Ching Yang* Fortunato de la Peña Jr.**
*Professor, Department. of Industrial Design Graduate Institute of NYUST, Yunlin, Taiwan, R.O.C
**Graduate student, Department. of Industrial Design Graduate Institute of NYUST, Yunlin, Taiwan, R.O.C
The study investigates the campus lifestyle and bicycle use among university students in Philippines and Taiwan. This is carried out mainly through case studies and on-site interviews and investigation, focusing on 8 university students from the
University of the Philippines (UP) and 12 university students from National Yunlin University of Science and Technology
(NYUST). The interview questions centered on cycling correlates, campus-student lifestyle, bicycle types, bicycle preference, use objective, and accessories on their bicycle. The interviews also investigate how they evaluate the current condition of their campus environment. The initial outcome of the study revealed that mountain bikes are the most popular type in the UP campus, while standard frame bicycles with speed are popular in NYUST. The mode of ownership differs from UP and
NYUST. In UP, bicycle renting is popular among students. Most students in both campuses don’t wear any safety gear, but
30% wear helmets wherever they go. Students in both groups almost have the same reasons in choosing to ride a bicycle; to save money, convenience, faster than walking, for fitness, and it can be parked anywhere. Student cyclists in UP seem to travel longer distances than their counterparts in NYUST. Campus environment is a big factor in influencing the number of cyclists among the student population. NYUST’s student cyclist population is a lot bigger than UP. There are more cycling facilities inside the NYUST campus as compared to UP. While both have bike lanes, NYUST has more parking sheds and school traffic regulations that seem to benefit student cyclists in the
References: August, 2009 and in National Yunlin University of Science and Technology during the month of June 2009.