The bus system in Taiwan is amazing. You see all ages represented from school kids to the elderly. They don't smell and have dedicated lanes in places. There are so many of them that you rarely have to wait more than 10 minutes at any stop. It's a great alternative to the subway for shorter rides.
It seems like cities like NY and San Francisco have the density to support similar systems.
I find cities in Taiwan frustrating to navigate without personal transport, at least a bicycle.
Having lived in Kaohsiung for a bit, I observed that very few people use public transport unless they go to/from intercity rail or airport. Buses in particular are unreliable (mostly used by older people), and MRT alone is obviously not enough for the sparse city.
That has more to do with the middling state of public transit in the US than it does with public transit itself.
In Taiwan, when you land at TPE, there is an express MRT line that connects directly to Taipei Main Station. You can also hop on the High Speed Rail and connect to southern destinations. Bypasses all of the traffic and congestion.
Fantastic way to travel and makes it so much more convenient.
There is a dramatic difference between most European & Asian public transport systems and most non-NYC American public transport systems, though.
Once I stayed with my in-laws in Sanxia Taiwan, an exurb of Taipei. When we wanted to get to Taipei 101 (37km away), we took public transit. When we wanted to get to the historic district (26 km away), we took public transit. When we wanted to get to Tamsui (a bucolic oceanfront suburb, 42km away), we took public transit. When we wanted to get to Banqiao (the main shopping district, 16km away), we took public transit.
From the mid-peninsula, this is equivalent to going to San Francisco; going to downtown San Jose; going to Half Moon Bay; and going to Stanford Shopping Center. You can actually get to the first two through Caltrain, but you'll walk about a mile to get to the Caltrain station, rather than half a block to get to a bus that comes every 10 minutes. You can't effectively get to HMB, Stanford Shopping Center, or any of the other non-city-center through public transit in the Bay Area.
That's what foreigners tend to complain about with the walkability of American cities. It isn't the difficulty of getting from dense, built-up city centers to top tourist destinations. It's the difficulty of getting from common, ordinary residences to the next tier of destinations.
My preferred method is a bus that gives you a great view of the mountains on your way into Taipei. Plus they're like five bucks or something and take an hour just like all the other ways.
I’m not against public transit. I lived in Taiwan for a while which has very good public transport. But what’s good for a single person doesn’t necessarily work for a family living outside the city. The benefits of owning a car are pretty clear there.
Arrived in Singapore recently and I'm quite impressed with the public transportation system here. My base is the slow Metro transit in Los Angeles and the over crowded system in Manila.
The MRTs in Taiwan run very tight schedules with high frequency. Commutes are relatively short. Most folks go out with their kids and get food together (Taiwan being known for their night markets).
> However, the groceries will also be far more expensive
It's counterintuitive, but groceries and food are actually very cheap in Taiwan.
Oh: ride public transit. Notice that it runs on time, is fairly easy to understand, and is clean. There's a sky tram, a light rail, a streetcar, and an extensive bus system. Everything is free downtown in the fareless square.
I spent a week in Berlin recently, and it shows how a comprehensive mass transit system ought to work. There are subways, trains, streetcars, and buses all linked together. It's a marvelous system. You can get anywhere in the metropolitan area quickly. There's no need to have a car at all.
I'm actually in love with Berlin transit system. Metro/SBahn is always just minutes of walking away. There are at least 4 ways you can commute - SBahn, trams, metro and bus; I prefer SBahn and metro the most, as they are always on time and frequent enough not to be overloaded even in the rush hours. If I were to live there, I don't think I'd need to own a car, or use a car sharing service with exception of transporting something bulky. So, I think, provided the public transit system is well designed and well funded, it would be safe to say that it could be OR inside cities. But that's a lot to ask for, so, yup, you're right.
Re: Buses - if you get a chance, come over to Singapore. The buses come by every 3-5 minutes, have world-class air-conditioning, and on the half-dozen or so routes that I ride regularly, I don't think I've ever had to stand.
I rarely bother to even use their (world class) MRT I love the buses so much.
An advanced city is not a place where the poor move about in cars, rather it’s where even the rich use public transportation
You don't have to check the schedule for a good transit system because it comes so often it's always there.
Depends very much on where you are going. I live in a European city with pretty good transit so if I'm going to or around the city center, then sure there is a bus every few minutes[1]. However If I'm going to visit my in-laws a few suburbs out, that train leaves once an hour if traveling at off peak times (like Sunday afternoon when I normally go). If I'm going to visit my parents (3.5 hour drive away) that train leave twice a day.
[1] Although with COVID being what it is I haven't been on public transport for over a year and have to admit that driving everywhere is actually quicker and easier in almost every case at the moment.
reply