The first and arguably most convenient part of Taipei is the Easy Card, which you can get at the Metro Station or at 7-11s/Family Marts. This prepaid card encompasses most aspects of daily life in Taipei because it allows you access to public transportation, the YouBike system, and other public places like the Taipei Zoo, and also can be used to purchase food and many other goods at different stores throughout the city. The first President of Taiwan, Chiang Kai Shek, wanted to do everything he could to give his people the best living experience possible, and even though the Easy Card came after his death, it was a perfect execution of that lasting vision (read that at a museum).
Last weekend, my friends and I went out to Yilan County, about an hour east of Taipei, for a day at the beach. After leaving the hostel at 11 am, slightly later than the 9 am we had planned on, we finally walked the 5 minutes to Taipei Main Station. But it turns out we didn't extra time to get where we needed to go. We easily found the ticket window for the bus to Yilan, accompanied by a fairly long line. The line subsided quickly and received our $130 NTD (about $4 USD) tickets. We waited for about 15 minutes before boarding our bus to the North East coast of Taiwan. I was stunned when I stepped on the bus and found out exactly what our tickets had gotten us: a luxury bus ride with leather, reclining seats to a city an hour away and, everyone's favorite, free wifi.
More recently, I used Taipei's YouBike system for the first time. In the city alone, they have over 150 stations with an average of 30 bikes per station ready to ride 24/7 with a tap of your Easy Card. The cost is $5 NTD per half hour (about $.15 USD), and once you're done with the bike you can return it to any YouBike station by tapping your Easy Card once more.
I am #blessed to have the 7-11s and Family Marts and their conveniences here. You can do and find just about everything you need to in their stores. When I was at the hospital filling out all the information for my physical, I realised I had forgotten a copy of my passport. Thankfully, I had my flash drive in my backpack with a few important documents on it. I went into the Family Mart around the corner, got on to the "FamiPort," and printed out a copy of my passport for $3 NTD (About $.10 USD). So cool. They had pictures for each of the things you could do, luckily, because nothing was in English. I clicked on the picture of the printer, and then continued pressing the rest of the buttons that had borders around them. Guess and check, but I got it done. Other things that can be done at stores include: paying bills, picking up packages shipped to you, dry cleaning, and buying tickets for events and transportation.
Last, but not least, you have the Metro System (MRT) which has five different lines that run throughout the city and into most of the suburbs. It's basically a smaller version of BART, if you've been to San Francisco, but I think it's even more efficient and much less expensive. A 30 minute ride costs about $1.50 USD and on BART it would be over $7. The trains are newer in Taipei and don't run the same risk shutting down, as some BART trains have recently. They also arrive at faster intervals it seems, because I haven't had to wait more than three minutes to catch a train. Might be a little luck, too. I haven't made a mistake on any transfers...yet...but I'm sure it will happen sometime.
One convenient part of Taiwan I haven't had to the chance to take advantage of yet is the High Speed Rail (HSR). You can be in Kaohsiung in 1.5 hours, whereas it would take 5 hours by car or standard train. I'm excited to use it this upcoming weekend as I'm headed to the southern most point of Taiwan, Kenting, for a couple days of surfing and snorkeling!
In my opinion, the U.S. could learn a few things from Taiwan in public transportation and convenience in general. It's lagging significantly behind not only here, but in many other countries around the world.
Now, the only thing that's not convenient about Taipei is that there are hardly any trash cans or dumpsters anywhere! There's a large street food culture here, so it's hard to believe that the city can remain so clean. I ran into a little bit of trouble with this the other day, when I thought that I could set my garbage by another trash bag just outside the exit from my apartment. A shop owner (I'm assuming) printed out the still photo of me and taped on the bag. Won't be doing that anymore.
 |
| My bad. "Wo shi wai guo ren." (I am a foreigner). |
No comments:
Post a Comment