Transportation (Part 1)

Some months ago, I expressed a great deal of interest in joining the madness that is traffic here in Taipei. This dream, born in my mind with volcanic blast force, is now but a cool, oozing lava flow. Sure, I trust myself on a scooter or motorcycle. I more than trust myself. For the most part, my younger, speed-loving soul has found itself reincarnated in some 17 year old from Wichita. Life experience has made me a safe and careful driver. In the words of the great, late Notorious B.I.G., "Damn right I love the life I live."

I absolutely do not trust the Taiwanese on the road, even for just a second. Forget driving for a moment. Let's talk about walking. Yes, walking. The most basic of life skills proves to be a bit difficult for the people of Taiwan. It never occurs to anyone that stopping in the middle of the sidewalk during rush hour to answer their cellphone could be an inconvenience to others. Or that walking like a parabola makes it nearly impossible to create a flow of pedestrian traffic. I have yet to put my finger on the reason, whether it be a lack of self-awareness, or maybe a misunderstanding of spacial relations, but whatever the reason is it can be quite difficult to get from point A to point B on the sidewalk. Now, let's put millions of these people onto 2 wheeled vehicles. Sounds like a blast.

Since landing just over 3 months ago, I have had 2 friends get into 3 accidents. None of them were very serious, but they easily could have been. This is to say that scooter accidents are commonplace, and scooter abandonment is just as popular. Walking along the streets of Taipei, you will often see a busted up bike lying on the side of the road, left for dead. There are so many bikes in Taiwan that it's actually just cheaper to buy a new one instead of repairing a wrecked one. So, when one gets into an accident, their scooter will sit on the side of the road, wallowing away in 2 wheeled misery while it is slowly stripped naked, part by part. As you can see, this scooter abandonment phenomenon is a bit of a Catch-22. No one takes the time to repair their rides, but who can resist free parts on the side of the road?

Besides the whole minor point of traffic safety in Taipei, there's the traffic itself. Green Island was great. I could let loose on the throttle and not have to worry about anything, however, the scooter traffic in Taipei is outrageous. So much so, that I am perfectly content to get around via public transportation. And since better judgment has gotten the best of me and a scooter is not in my immediate future, I might as well say that I'm doing it because I'm making a conscious decision to protect the environment. The subway system, known as the MRT in Taiwan, does the trick, just fine. There are actually two different systems that run in Taipei, a French one and a German one. The French system is above ground and the German system is both above and below ground, connecting at various junctions. And, while I'm not the biggest fan of either of the aforementioned countries, or rather the people in them, they do know how to make a pretty efficient system of transport. Se efficient and effective that Taiwan has great plans to expand. Construction is happening all over hte city as the infrastructure expands. Pasted below, is a map of the future MRT system. I live right by the stations that says Guting. You see it?