One thing that I've noticed when I arrived in Taiwan is there's scooters everywhere. It's the most popular way to get around Taiwan. Parking problems? Traffic Jams? No Problemo! Not in Taiwan. You could fit about 4 scooters in a parking space (and road space) of a regular car. Check these out. It's like a scooter wonderland!
People get around much faster on scooters - this means you have no reason to be late for your appointment! Taiwan's roads have special lanes for scooters. They even have a special area on the intersection when you stop for the traffic lights - SCOOTERS ONLY.
They have an underpass and parking spaces for scooters only.
Everyone rides a scooter. Kids have their small bicycles, and by the time they're old enough to get a license, they're ridin' scooters! If there's a rent-a-car in most places, there's rent-a-scooter here for those who will just stay for a short period.
Well, not everyday is a no-traffic-jam day in Taiwan. When there's rain, they ride their cars, so think on how many cars would be in the streets! But on a normal day, it's scooters galore!
Oh, and if there's a scooter wonderland, there's bound to be a helmet shop! Safety First!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Scooters, scooters and more scooters!
Posted by JC at 9:23 PM
Labels: Transportation
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5 comments:
It's really a convenient transport especially if the country is large and the public transport is not as efficient.
Come to think of it, a scooter is more efficient than a car (with all that useless bulky chasis) and definitely faster than a bike.
I've seen a young girl riding a bike and carrying her two younger brothers (front and back) in Taiwan before.
Over here in London, bikes giving way to bicycles... and the Mini Coopers!
So are you going to get yourself a scooter?
@CK
With the price of gas these days... scooters are a better option than cars... no air-conditioning though...
@blog2u
Hmm... No... I don't really get around that much... either it's a looooong trip (by bus), or a short trip (by my bicycle), or if I do get out, I take the subway (KMRT)...
Scooters does pollute the air ! In Italy, Indo, Vietnam (n Taiwan ?) u see folks wearing nose-filters to prevent their lungs from smog n pollution.
Having said that, it is exhilarating to ride a fast scooter. U could easily weave thru congested roads !
The dutch r big users of their bicycles. I hv a bike but cant get the hang of it. Hv fallen down numerous times - am black n blue, so I gave up! That means walking the 25mins (bus service scraped after making endless losses) to the local train station whenever I need to commute to the city :-(
I would love to be back in Taiwan. Got a scooter when I worked in Mai-liao (Formosa Plastics and Petroleum Corporation) and I used it to go wandering in farms watching people working in the fields.
One time I passed by a couple harvesting honeydew melons. I asked for some cracked melons and their offered it to me. They even cut some good ones for me to eat. Before I left, I took some money from my pocket to pay them which they did not aggree. How nice and industrious their people are.
I was also amazed with their mechanized farming.
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