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I swear I feel like I am subconsciouslly following your footsteps ahahahha, I live in Amsterdam Zuid (well technically amstelveen) and study Artificial Intelligence at the university there (the VU) and now I am on exchange in Taipei.. where clearly you know everything about already! I kept on seeing my streets when you filmed around amstelveen.. AND NOW I SEE MY STREETS HERE IN TAIPEI.. crazy stuff... would be very interested to know what you worked for here in taiwan considering my study... love your work, love the videos, funny coincidences :)
So they got like 100 high speed trains a day and in america we were celebrating that amtrack recently began running like 8 trains a day from chicago to twin cities
In the city I live, Groningen, they're going to make a very long busy street a mainly bicycle focused one. It's called the Korreweg and as someone living on this street I follow the development of how it will turn out closely. Perhaps it's worth checking out this project in the years to come as I think it will be a great example of how a high bicycle traffic road can be improved for the better. We get around 15k cyclist every day on this street alone. Currently the bicycle paths are very narrow and not capable of passing all those bikes safely every day. Accidents happen (don't have the statistics), but it really needs improvement.
As a Taiwanese, our people always think that car and wide road is the symbol of developed country. In addition, some store owner will refuse to "paint" the sidewalk in front of their store because they think that only car can bring money, not pedestrian. Therefore, it is very difficult to build sidewalk or bus lane in here.
the part about the store owners is just silly, you can fit so many more people in your store if they dont need to all have a car! foot traffic is oftentimes a great way to increase the overall volume of customers, because its so much easier to just hop from store to store as you walk down a road than it is to worry about parking. When I'm on foot, ill pop in and out of stores without a worry. when im driving, i will oftentimes just say "ehhh, that store looks interesting, but i dont wanna deal with parking again..." I understand WHY these lines of thinking happen, and I cant really fault people so much for the misconception of "cars=developed" (especially cause it might be a bit of an export from western countries like america, where we kinda got the same mindset), but god is it frustrating
As well, Taiwanese think riding motorcycle is the symbol of being adult while bicycle is the symbol of children toy. They also look down on people who walk to take public transport.
The Youbike system is kind of a product of that industry as it's run by Giant. It definitely helps to have one of the largest manufacturers do it when trying to build a bikeshare system. I still feel that irony though.
I also want to mention the bike paths, if they exist, are so terribly built that there are places where you will run into a concrete wall head first. They even removed a sidewalk so scooters can hook turn, forcing you to walk around it.
The cycling network in Taiwan followed the terrible Japanese design. Around the late 2000s Kaohsiung has some great infrastructure, some recreational routes that largely followed the Dutch design, but it has been neglected for years, hence there has not been any expansion.
I was somewhat into biking in my middle school, and I still remember there's a bike path that had a pole right in the middle. That's impressive in some way
@@tracegomez i would like to get those coordinates. i have never encountered something like that anywhere in The Netherlands. so to me it sounds like one of these scenarios: - you where somewhere you weren't supposed to cycle and overlooked the right cycle lane in the area. - there was construction going on, but in those cases there are plenty of signs to show you how to continue your journey. - it was in a place that's still being build. over here they often build the cycle lanes first in a new development, then the houses and lastly the roads get made (because otherwise the roads would fall apart due to the construction vehicles using it)
@@MarcoGPUtuber Yup , Taiwan has Youbike , aka one of the best bicycle rental systems in the world , but it’s a shame that our environment for bikers and pedestrians is pretty much garbage
@@ChristiaanHW more often they will first build a work road of a rough asfalt. good for heavy trucks and what not. only when the project is done will they replace the asfalt for bricks.
I ended up in the ER as a pedestrian when working in Taichung in 2017. I got a walk sign, walked across an unobstructed zebra crossing on a single lane road in an orange shirt like in the thumbnail. Suddenly I was up on a windshield of a car that had come up behind me and turned right on red through the crosswalk. The police had the driver's dashcam video and said it was a 'cultural misunderstanding' because I didn't turn around and check for any cars that might turn right on red without slowing, ignore the walk signs, and not notice pedestrians
Looking before crossing is always a good idea, but the police should never have insinuated that it was somehow your fault for not noticing. An illegal move is still an illegal move. Turning right on red isn't even allowed here unlike the US. Hope you have recovered.
Great video! As a Taiwanese citizen I can tell you that Taiwan will likely still be a pedestrian hell after 10 years. The amount of drivers complaining about how pedestrians often crossed the zebra lines "too slowly" and should "grow some mutual respect to car drivers" is just surprising. Additionally, anywhere outside Taipei (maybe plus a few more special municipality cities) is pretty much the same scene you experienced in the New Taipei City. We desperately need better designed city that focuses on pedestrians, bikes and public transits.
Visiting Taiwan as a reckless twenty something, it was so fun driving a moped everywhere. But cities shouldn't be designed solely around reckless twenty somethings.
Disagree. As a reckless American who is no longer 20 something, I still recognize we have some of the worst drivers on the planet. I yearn for the polite recklessness of Asia, where people don't actively try to hit you and bend the rules instead of getting mad at you because the rules made you inconvenience them.
@@StefanBacon Thailand hasn't changed. You will still see people riding motorcycles without helmets, wearing flip-flops and people riding around in the back of trucks while standing up. There's a part of me that loves it, but thankful my own country isn't like that.
Bro Taichung has the worst pedestrian infrastructure in all of Taiwan because it doesn't exist.. A walking trip to Fengchia Market almost cost me my life smh
I was living in Taiwan from August 2023 to June 2024, and it's absolutely true that although the MRT has become such an efficient metro system, it's still a common problem with the traffic congestion during rush hour, and bike lanes are still less prioritised, although it's possible to bike along the Jingmei River just fine. But yeah, if you walk on the absurdly narrow sidewalks in Taipei, you should be careful when moped drivers suddenly drive behind you and expect to have the privilege to pass by you. Sidewalks in Taipei are absolutely a living hell, cause it's so unpredictable I would say.
Honestly speaking as a former local, Taiwan is only good when it comes to recreational routes. Daily commuting routes are almost non-existent despite how good U-bikes has came to be.
My grandpa lives in Taiwan’s taoyuan city and the part of town where he is living in has no fucking pedestrian at all, I always have to walk on roads with cars zooming past me every time I visit him, i can never get used to that place since I live in Hong Kong which has much better public transit
Taiwanese here. If you're wondering what locals think: Yes, I can confirm it's still a living hell, especially in the south where I live. You're welcome.
I’m a Canadian living in Japan. The lack of tree coverage here is absolutely insane. Especially as the summers get hotter, it’s just awful. Not only that, but the lack of shade means that the cities just hold onto the heat all night. The worst is when they plant trees but then cut them so aggressively that they provide no shade whatsoever. 😊
As a Japanese that recently moved from Tokyo to Vancouver, this is so true! I swear if I ever move back to Japan I'll miss all the green that I can see everyday.
Japan and other places around the world clocked hottest summers. Also sign of global warming, a lot of Chinese wealthy have moved from China and HK to... SAPPORO. The place that had.. harshest winters.
one of the things I truly love about Pittsburgh. It's a car-centric city like many American cities, sure, but the terrain means most roads are all windy and slow, especially once you're outside the downtown area, and there's tons of undeveloped spots with trees and bushes everywhere because the city is so old and has never been bombed or destroyed by an earthquake or tornado or anything (the Appalachian mountains are incredibly old and stable) so it was built up without bulldozing everything flat first and has remained that way for centuries.
EXACTLY my experience when I was in Japan for 15 days in 2019. The major cities are literal concrete jungles and I missed the greenery I could see everywhere back home in Vancouver. Made me wonder how healthy (or unhealthy) it must be to live in a place with little direct and daily access to nature in the way of lush, rich parks with lots of trees and other flora long term.
3:35 The trash truck music is still the same, it just varies between districts. For example, some of Taipei City districts play Fur Elise and some the old sound, while most of New Taipei's districts still play the old sound.
@@NotJustBikes 'Für Elise' is already my personal horror music, cannot imagine hearing it from a rubbish lorry. At that point i would just lie down & let it run me over, i guess.
10:38 There's an old, running joke in the car community that Audi's idea of advertising is to park an Audi in the way of something, so I just burst out laughing at this!
@Ashinle moped-dependency is more challenging problem than car-dependency. It has the flexibility of bikes but with the dangers of cars. Bikes are having a hard time competing against mopeds because mopeds can go where bikes go, but without the hassle of biking footwork.
The CNN report really embarrassed the Taiwanese government. The government is just putting on a show, but in reality, neither the government nor most people care about traffic at all. Because most foreigners stay in Taipei, only Taipei bothers with appearances. Once you step outside of Taipei, you'll see the real hell. It's ironic, isn't it? When Taiwanese people speak up about traffic, it doesn't make a difference. But when foreigners raise the issue, that's when things start to change.
@@Cryosxify Yes, you’re right, but it’s sad that the fact 8 people die every day is considered irrelevant by the government in Taiwan. It seems that the opinions of foreigners are more important than the lives of Taiwanese people.
Everyone in the government only drives a car anyway, it's a status symbol. They wouldn't dream of taking public transit or walking, certainly not outside of Taipei. This video gives Taiwan way too much credit, they have blood on their hands.
One peculiar thing about Taiwan is that foreign interference often caused more change than internal pressure. I guess its a result of how dependent they are on good terms of the rest of the world, without recognition anything can come and go at a whim like a dead pedestrian.
It's nice to watch a video where I know and have walked where the B roll is shot. Traffic is easily the worst part of living in Taiwan. Pedestrian Hell is no joke, it's a shame you didn't have time to cover other cities. The more southern you go, the crazier.
This is so true, I’m from a district in New Taipei City called Linkou it’s like a 30 minutes drive from Taipei, and it is a place that’s built from scratch so the city design is a lot better than other places in Taiwan, and growing up there I thought that is what cities looks like all over Taiwan, when the first time I went to Tainan I was so shocked as a kid, I even thought I was in a different country, the scooters were cutting crazy on the road and on the sidewalks, I can’t even count how many time I was almost hit by one.
@@ZlligillZ agreed. kind of an odd feeling since its so rare to see your local area depicted in international media (im from oslo, so im thinking abojt a different video)
@@arandomdude7182 I have similar experience, I moved from Taipei to Tainan ten years ago, Tainan was a lot like Vietnam 10 years ago, scooters would never stop for pedestrian, It has improved a lot recently but sidewalks are still uncommon.
In Taiwan, if you accidentally killed someone while driving, you usually go to jail for less than 3 years. Also, you still have a great chance to regain your driver license. There are truck drivers that have killed people several times yet still driving on road today. Please be careful around cars when you visit Taiwan 😢
I go to Taiwan often. Next time your should visit Taichung, it's the most car dependent city on the island in my opinion. It was a lot worse than Taipei
@@NotJustBikes my first visit to Taiwan was in 2002. Passing though Taichung by bus, we stopped outside the railway station to change to a different bus on the way to Chiayi and I noticed a train at odd angles in the station. I went over to check and the train was indeed derailed over several tracks at the end of the platform. Turned out a truck going under the tracks had hit the bridge as an empty train was approaching. A good first impression of the city. 😆
I live in Taichung, I can only rely on scooter or car to commute😢 There’s almost no metro or other public transportation to replace private vehicles.For students and elderly, the only feasible public transportation is bus. But there’s still a lot of problem about bus in Taichung, like accessibility, driver overworked, few shifts and road configurations about separating personal vehicles and bus. Overall, Taichung is ironically the rapidly growing city in the middle of Taiwan .Nantou, Changhua and so on , these cities’ populations moved to Taichung recently for better opportunities and life. However, it seems like Taichung isn’t ready for welcoming growth. What government does is only paving more road for private vehicles rather than restricting. Traffic in Taichung will be worsened in near future…
@@Yutinglai-p5y I lived in Taichung for a while over a decade ago, it's sad to hear it hasn't changed. That city is SO spread out and awful to navigate without a car, it's the worst on the west side by far.
Taiwanese here 🙋♂️ As mentioned in the video, transportation in Taiwan has indeed improved in recent years. However, due to legal reasons, our traffic planning is managed by different government agencies. For example, the introduction of green-painted pedestrian pathways is due to the fact that the agency responsible for creating physical sidewalks and the agency in charge of road design are different. Therefore, legal regulations will be one of the key factors for future advancements in Taiwan's transportation. BTW your Mandarin is gooood🔥
The fact that Taipei has exhausted options for increasing walkability without affecting cars reminds me a lot of Rome in Italy, where significant progress has been made for improving cycling and walkability in these past years but always in ways that would marginally inconvenience driving. It would be very very interesting to cover Rome in the future.
I remember watching one of your videos about the bike parking systems in the Netherlands, and it left a strong impression on me. Thanks so much for taking the time to create this piece on Taipei! As someone from Taiwan, I really hope our cities can also become more people-friendly, and we’re working hard to push things in that direction. Hopefully, in 10 years, when you come back to Taiwan, not just Taipei, but other cities too will feel safe and comfortable for visitors. But since I’m a local, I also wanted to share a few observations and things worth discussing. Recently, I read a book written by the former NYC Department of Transportation commissioner almost a decade ago. She talked about the challenges of improving pedestrian spaces and bike lanes in New York. People kept saying, “New York isn’t Amsterdam,” which shows how tough it can be for car-centric cities to make that kind of transition. Taiwan’s situation is even more complex, so it’s tricky to compare us directly with Japan, Europe, or the US. There are two big reasons: (1) how we developed economically and (2) the tug-of-war between road infrastructure and public transit. Our economic development is similar to South Korea's - both countries industrialized and urbanized rapidly. We’re more like Vietnam or Thailand in that sense. The cities grew so quickly that urban planning, zoning, and public transport couldn’t keep up with the population boom, unlike in Europe or the US, where things happened more gradually. Then there’s the competition between road-focused development and mass transit. South Korea has had subways for 50 years; Taipei only started about 30 years ago. Compare that to Tokyo, where the subway system is vast and supports the entire metropolitan area. Taiwan only started moving away from US-style car culture about 20 years ago, so there’s still a lot to do. Given this context, I don’t blame the moped riders. While locals get frustrated by mopeds weaving through traffic, parking everywhere, and even riding on sidewalks, these are symptoms of failed urban planning. Most moped riders are middle-class or lower, often young people or students just starting out with no assets. If there were better public transport options, no one would want to ride a moped (or at least not as their main mode of transport). I’m glad you got to visit Zhonghe. From an metropolitan perspective, Taipei and New Taipei really should be seen as one, but unfortunately, they’re divided into separate administrative regions. Taipei city, as the capital, gets more resources. As you’ve seen, the city has changed a lot in the past decade, but those improvements only happen within Taipei city itself. Meanwhile, rents and property prices in Taipei are so high that most young people can’t afford to live there, even though the jobs are mostly in the city. As a result, more people have to live in places like Zhonghe, which, as you mentioned, feels like it hasn’t changed in 10 years. And commute to the CBD in Taipei city to work everyday. New Taipei has been expanding its MRT network, but these new lines weren’t planned as a comprehensive system like Taipei’s original five lines. That’s why you saw such ridiculous transfer situations. So, whether living in New Taipei and commuting to Taipei by MRT will ever feel better than riding a moped is still up in the air. This also means that any plans to reduce car lanes need to be handled with caution. Without better commuting options, making it harder for New Taipei’s working class to ride their mopeds into Taipei could feel like a double hit for those who are already struggling. Buses might be an area worth focusing on. Taipei has the most developed bus system in Taiwan, but we’re still far behind some cities in Central and South America that have successfully implemented BRT systems. All in all, for Taiwan and many of the emerging cities in Southeast Asia, moving towards people-centered cities like in the Netherlands involves tackling a lot of unique issues (especially mopeds). It’ll take some localized, innovative solutions, but hopefully, one day Taiwan’s cities can become models for others in Asia.
Taiwanese here, the odd thing about me is that I actually prefer foreigners discussing the loopholes of Taiwan over compliments. Surely compliments can bring us the feeling of achievement and satisfaction, but reflecting critically on the significant flaws of Taiwanese infrastructure can get us a chance to make the government take action (at least if the DPP is willing to).
There's a newly built light rail system in Kaohsiung, people are complaining about how it take too much space from road and causing traffic jam, completely ignore the fact that it's cars and mopeds causing traffic jam.
As a Hongkonger and a biker living in Taiwan, here are some of my observations: 1. The transport department still refuses to reconsider the "low standards" of driving tests. 2. Drivers continue to complain about "pedestrians walking too slowly." While drivers face fines of NT6000 for not yielding to pedestrians, jaywalkers are fined only NT600. It is rarely heard that the police issue tickets for jaywalking, likely because it's difficult to enforce. 3. Drivers and bikers remain reckless, and poor driving habits seem ingrained. This is largely due to the lack of proper transportation education over the past decades. It's not that they don't want to drive well; it's just that "they don't know they're doing anything wrong." 4. Because of the low standards for obtaining driving licenses and widespread bad driving behavior, the transport department and local Taiwanese media often shift the focus to scooter riders. However, scooters are not the only group to blame. This tactic of creating conflict among different types of vehicles serves to distract from the transport department's core responsibility for these problems. I have also reached out to key opinion leaders (KOLs) focused on road design improvements. It turns out that officials within the transport department usually lack professional knowledge. Even when some encounter advanced, internationally-standard designs, these ideas are often banned by town mayors. Unfortunately, many of these mayors lack any traffic expertise and base their decisions solely on concerns like "convenience for parking cars or scooters," disregarding the rights of pedestrians.
I live in Taipei for almost 16 years and I am so glad to see you covering this beautiful island. As a German there's just no way I can drive in Taipei... it just freaks me out. Thank god we have a great public transport system
Nah, you get used to it pretty quick. I used to drive in Hanoi and that is properly insane. But I only had two crashes. Now I'm in Beijing and it's not a problem, even though there doesn't seem to be a single person who actually knows how to drive properly and the road design is done by preschoolers!
Don't get me started. I have driven from Amsterdam to Frankfurt for the cheaper flight to Taiwan, and coming from the autobahn to the Taiwanese motorways literally a day after straight up gave me aneurysm.
I’m an American living here for more than 20 years now. As I see it, it has definitely improved over the years. Even more so recently. The worst offenders: 1. Scooters 2. Taxis and Ubers 3. Blue delivery trucks 4. Wealthy people in luxury cars.
Yes. Slightly better in the south, where sidewalks are bigger. But for a country that has perfect weather and flat cities, it's a real shame that everyone drives a car or scooter instead of just biking.
As a foreigner with a Taiwanese scooter license the one thing I can tell you: Virtually no one is going 50, unless there's heavy traffic. If they know the roads and where potential speed cameras are (which most locals do), they'll often go around 70-80 in the cities
I would note that it's partly a planning problem. The speed limit of 50 is the highest one on roads, applied to even the biggest throughfares in a city. Since the speed limits don't make sense, nobody listens to them except where speed cameras force them to, which is usually low-traffic roads where speeding wouldn't really matter (and where extremely low speed limits make the least sense). If 4-lane arterial thoroughfares had sensible speed limits, like 70 or 80, then I suspect people would actually listen on those roads with posted speed limits of 50 and below.
While Taiwan has made commendable strides towards multimodal transport, one aspect that often goes underappreciated in such transformations is the broader cultural shift required. It’s not just about physical infrastructure-it's about fostering a mindset that embraces walking, cycling, and public transport as primary options, not just alternatives to cars. True progress will come when the perception of convenience is redefined to prioritize people over vehicles. The next phase isn't just infrastructural-it's societal.
No, seriously no. There will be close to no culture issues. You build the infrastructure well, and people will use it. People don't get snobby about transportation, they like it, they use it. It's that simple.
@@passerby4507 As someone who live in Vietnam whose capital city just got their second metro line ever and 30% people there simply dropped their mopeds for the trains, yeah. Now when is your train usable here in Hồ Chí Minh City, Japan? *sigh*
Some things can be improved with infrastructure for sure, but other things will be more difficult. For example, Taiwan's ridiculously hot and humid climate means that typically, 10 minutes on a bicycle will leave you soaked in sweat during the hotter months (which is about 8 months of the year), which disincentivizes riding.
@@passerby4507 As long as public transport isn't everywhere, it is politically impossible to make licenses harder to earn. I mean there was a court case that goes to the constitutional court because a professional driver think that withholding his driving license infringes his right to work...
@@passerby4507 Well, surely no mindset is ever gonna change if we keep building without restricting motor vehicles it is ridiculous how much emphasis has been given into cars and mopeds and culture will ultimately never change enough if cars are so much spread out and encouraged even while they are not convenient and this is the other reason the trips taken in car friendly cities even in The Netherlands like Wageningen by bike are extremely low.
I would like to say to my fellow urbanists that Taiwan is still a great place to visit. I visited in June (god it was so hot and humid everyday) and aside from the road priority this video takes aim at, there's lots of things that make Taiwan much more urbanist and enjoyable than you'd expect. Almost everywhere is easily accessible by public transport. It's very easy to travel around the entire country by trains (local train, fast train, HSR) and even to smaller towns by coach (like I did for SML and Alishan) and most cities are also very easy to travel around either on buses or metro (especially Taipei) although Tainan's buses were abysmal. All announcements across the whole country are given in at least Mandarin and English and in some areas Japanese, Hokkein and other local dialects as well. Cycling, while slowly improving on the west coast, is actually very popular on the east coast where cycling tourism is a big thing for smaller towns and it's much more common and seemingly safer (drivers respect cyclists here more and there's generally less traffic) You can also find food, drinks and daily needs absolutely everywhere. There are night markets everywhere; every few hundred metres in the bigger cities and every town seems to have one and the offerings are very fast, affordable and tasty. Every street seems to have at least 1 convenience store which stock everything you'd need. There's bubble tea shops everywhere which is actually a heavenly sight when it's at least 30c and 100% humidity everyday in summer and they're also very cheap; just ask for the lowest sugar content if you're worried about that. And at every destination you can always find a trusty vending machine (just be aware some only take coins and they aren't always chilled). In terms of built and non-built environment, Taiwan is also a great place for hiking with so many beautiful mountains and many are easily accessible by public transport close to the cities. There's lots of parks and trees in cities which was unexpected and while there is urban sprawl, it's not single family homes with lawns, it's actually dense, mixed use neighbourhoods interspersed with parks. And the people are some of the friendliest I've ever met, even with my broken Mandarin (the younger generations seemed to have basic English skills though) Of course, my experience is not going to echo everyone's and it's very different to the local perspective (I expect some people will disagree with some of my observations) but overall I highly recommend Taiwan as a place to visit even if the road situation isn't great.
As an urbanist, traffic safety advocate, and long-time fan of this channel who happens to live down the alley at 7:05 , I absolutely love this video! Please talk about Taiwan more! btw, shout out to the perfect pronunciation of "Zonghe"👍
The first time I have ever seen a person passed in person other than my old relatives in hospitals or homes, was on the street in Taipei. A young girl, who was around my age, was hit by a garbage truck and people surrounding her were screaming for an ambulance and her parents… while she was lifelessly lay down… My younger sibling was almost hit by a motorbike in Taipei and I remember how my mother was traumatized by the incident… We weren’t allow to walk too far and always driven around by a professional driver. I hope Taipei will have much safer traffic because there were so many nice places to visit and enjoy.
Professional drivers are the worst drivers in Taiwan 😂. I've been lucky enough to not watch any deaths. Also lucky to not being hit. I had a few close calls though, and I'm almost paranoid while crossing roads or walking when no good enough sidewalks, which is most of the time.
In short, yes. I will concede that since the "living hell" article, there has been a noticeable shift in driver behaviour. However, my sample size is n=1 and I'm an especially militant pedestrian, so my experience may not be reliable. Right now the major problems are: 1. Private vehicle size is getting ever bigger (thanks, USA), so visibility both ways is very poor and narrow side roads (with, of course, on-road parking) are cramped. 2. On-road parking is everywhere, making the side roads hot and narrow. 3. Pavement parking is endemic, especially mopeds and parents. There's a kindergarten round the corner from me where parents consistently park half on the pavement of a one-lane slip road, round a bend with a temple, at the bottom of a hill. All in sight of a cheap car park 10 m away. 4. There's zero public understanding of or police enforcement around sight lines. People habitually park on bends, at the foot of hills, on corners, even across the mouth of a road. 5. Police enforcement is non-existent. Drivers will run red lights and otherwise drive dangerously directly in front of the police. There WAS a change after the new law. It lasted a couple of weeks and then driver pushback led to a U-turn. In fact, the MOTC took away an online complaint channel (b/c it was overused lol), so there is currently no way to report traffic offenses except by calling the police directly. 6. Bikes are now ubiquitous. Woo-hoo. But in the hierarchical, might-makes-right environment of Taiwanese streets, that just means there's a new type of driver pushing around pedestrians. The worst thing is when the municipal govt takes an existing footpath, like the one by Danshui, and paints lines on it dividing it into a narrow cycle lane and a narrower pedestrian lane. Basically, they took a free, safe space for pedestrians and turned it into just another type of road. And wherever bikes can go, mopeds will go too (b/c this is TW). I used to cycle ten years ago. Not anymore. My nervous system just can't handle the constant stress hormones. 7. Everything is worse in the suburbs. The city centre is actually a pretty law-abiding place by comparison with the burbs, which basically exist as stops on the daily commute. Every biggish back street has turned into a rat run teeming with the latest SUVs and matte black Land Rover Defenders (🤮), and the main streets are particularly dangerous in the very early morning. Dawn run, anyone? For the last year or so I've been carrying a flashlight whenever I walk at night and it's made a big difference. For some reason, zebra crossings here are unlit... 🤷🏽♂
In terms of pedestrian safety, I think Thailand may the worst. I worked there for 9 months cycling to get around and it was absolutely terrifying every time I went outside. Stray dogs chasing you everywhere, drivers with no licenses, a mix of tiny mopeds and huge pick up trucks, and little to no pedestrian walkways or cycle paths in my city. Add to that the intense heat and humidity as well as heavy rains during monsoon season and you have a recipe for disaster. What's worse is our school was a bit out the city past a large major junction, from what I heard from the older teachers at my school every year they'd have a couple students die in motorbike crashes because the roads were so bad and it didn't surprise me at all. Everyone there had a story.
I see your Thailand and raise you a Vietnam. Although as a pedestrian I have ended up on someone's bonnet in Hua Hin, I used to drive in Hanoi and it's on another level.
@@bugsygoo In my experience, the traffic in Thailand is more dangerous as it moves, the traffic in Hà Nội is manageable as a pedestrian as it is standing still. In Móng Cái the situation is acceptable.
@@apveening I was thinking more about driving. I have only ever visited Thailand (many times), but I lived in Hanoi. But I do know that being a pedestrian in Hanoi is sketchy at best, especially because there are basically no footpaths in the old town. The amount of times I was hit by mopeds while walking 😠 but I was never hit by a car as a pedestrian... only when driving.
japan would absolutely anthropomorphise a skyscraper damping system *and* they'd make a mascot out of it who would get famous on twitter by being rad as hell
Correct me if I'm wrong but as far as I know the reason that metro exits are often along big streets, is because the metro lines also run under those big streets as that ground is already property of the city. Whereas if you run under buildings you have to buy that underground space and it's also harder to reach for construction. Ofcourse there's still plenty of options to make the exits nicer than just popping you out along a big stroad, but it's something to keep in mind
Living here, you touched on my main concern, too. When I moved here, I sold my car, and I was excited to be able to be in such a walkable country. That was one of the biggest draws for me coming here from Upstate New York. After living here for not even a month, I had two traffic accidents while riding bikes to work. Being almost run over by cars at every major intersection in Central Taiwan was such a culture shock for me. There's still so much driver entitlement. Eventually, I did move up north, which many praise as safer. Yet, living up north is a similar situation. There are many dangerous cars/mopeds and the vehicles go quite fast on turns. The walkability is still very good, but the lack of sidewalks is very concerning. As I've adjusted and become more used to the driving culture. I have adapted, but it's definitely still scary. Every time I go out, I only want to be on the BUS, MRT, or the train, but mainly the bike and walking. Everything else is just so dangerous! Even taking taxis, it is still a terrifying experience. Thank you so much for this coverage.
As a somewhat frequent visitor to Taipei (living in Hong Kong), one of the worst "features" IMO is that cars have a "free right turn", even when the pedestrian crossing is green. Maybe I am used to HK, so a green pedestrian crossing means safe (of course, even then I still check), but in Taipei you have a green crossing, and you still see cars coming right at you, which kind of becomes a game of timing - even though you have the right of way, drivers will keep turning thinking you will take time (I am not 100% sure if this is legal or not). As someone tall who walks fast, I often had this problem where drivers would not expect me to be at a certain point at a certain time and would just make the turns, forcing me to take evasive measures (slow down / stop).
The problem with Taiwanese infrastructure is that we are very, VERY BAD at space management. Unlike the Japanese, the designs can be alright but the result is often the most inconsistent things you'll see. The integration for these decision making processes is almost non existent, plus there's a huge gap between people's needs all around the neighborhood. All these along with the lack of centralized/nationalized planning/laws, it is very hard for us to even realize what was possible.
In my country Thailand, the car dependency is more important than the public transport infrastructures, so that's why motorcycle is everywhere. I really don't want to ride this thing on the road that has many chaotic motorcyclist are around me and super dangerous speedy car on the road but we have no choice. Cycling here is terrible and even sidewalks are super unsafety. Some people might say "It's not worth to build those infrastructures because people are not gonna use" but is it worth to let people use these dangerous roads and get an accident, it's absolutely not right? It's just kind a sad that our government doesn't support any kind of the thing that is safe.
This video made me very happy for multiple reasons, thank you for your content. I would like to add an aspect that I noticed while driving in Taipei at night. Many cars have tinted windows even on the windshield, making it even harder to see while driving. Add some rain and you really have to be lucky. As for cycling, I did enjoy it, especially cycling by the river. When it comes to using your bicycle next to the scooters...well, i would just be quite fast, and then they do allow you more space and treat as an equal. Almost got knocked over twice by buses, those drivers are crazy. On the bus, make sure you hold on. I warned you. Haven't tried scooters yet, but it's on my list. The Metro is quite good, easy access even with a buggy, the only thing is quite a lot of people are using the elevator, so you have to wait quite long. Many of those people could have easily take the escalator...I don't see the logic. Driving on the East Coast...that's a different story... Overall, Taiwan is one of my favorite countries from many points of view: people, food, nature and I recommend everyone to visit and support this democratic country!
I was in Tainan for 11 months and just want to say... The vertical drops in the sidewalk are real and that example was *tame*. Some down south eclipsed a foot / 30+ cm. I distinctly remember a pair of them, back to back, one had asphalt piled like a slimeball as a sort of "stair" in one corner, and the next, to similarly provide a stair, had a *brick*.
I lived in Tainan for many years. I noticed most local people just walk on the side of the road because its so much easier than walking on the sidewalk under the building. I often see tourists, probably from Taipei, try to walk on the sidewalk and had to go in and out of the building just to avoid all the obstacles on the sidewalk.
@@TaiwanWorker Yeah, there were some spots that were just impassable without going on the side of the road, but, as an American, I was largely uncomfortable being *that close* to traffic a lot of the time, so I'd take the sidewalk when possible
I'm a native college student in Taiwan. I once nearly got hit by a car when walking on the crossing, the driver was pushing aggressively as if he's on a rush or something. Some problems about the traffic in Taiwan are related to the drivers themselves, not the traffic designs or so. We've seen too many cases in which a reckless driver think they have the absolute right of way and driving like a maniac. Indeed, the traffic here is improving, but we still need more improvements. I'm glad that you pointed out the changes and the problems here, hope we can see a better Taiwan in the near future.
I'm so glad you've made a video about Taipei. As you probably know, this video is going to end up all over the news here and hopefully it will give another huge boost to the urbanism movement locally.
it’s crazy cuz as somebody from the Philippines who flies to Taiwan frequently, it already felt like a pedestrian paradise 😅. I am aware of the fast driving and wide roads but the streets felt safe nonetheless (at least compared to Manila). I do notice something quite common were cars parked on the side “very quickly” to buy something from a store nearby.
German here, with 25 years spent in Asia, but only three months in Taipei. I'm a car lover, but even more a lover of urban public transport systems. First, a big thumbs-up for the accuracy and density of the facts you presented(, and incidentally also for the professional editing). I agree with most of your observations. I also enjoyed walking through the neighborhood lanes bustling with local life. The importance of individual car traffic is absolutely exaggerated. Supporting bike and scooter traffic will be unavoidable, as you rightly said. I would add three remarks there, though: 1. As a matter of fact, the internal combustion engine technology of the scooters is part of the "living hell" problem, not of the solution. Smog and noise pollution at the intersections is unbearable. So, electrification is an urgent necessity. Shanghai, for once, could serve as an example how to do it. 2. Geomorphology needs be taken into account. Although Taipei's city center is mostly on even ground, the surrounding areas, including New Taipei City, are quite mountainous, which adds to their flavor, but makes them inaccessible for the average Taiwanese biker. Electric scooters might kill two birds with one stone here. 3. I would be very careful transferring the insights from Taipei lightheartedly to other cities, and particularly the countryside, of Taiwan. The situation there varies greatly, and from Japan I know that e.g. in the depopulating areas having individual car traffic available is an absolutely indispensable lifeline for the local communities. Average car usage even for social security recipients there is much higher than for millionaires in Tokyo...
It's the same thing here in South Korea. It saddens me so much to see a country as small and as dense as it is to follow the American way of CARS CARS CARS with wide streets in their new cities. Literally boggles my mind.
@@dtown313 South Korea has a large automobile sector, so not only following “Americanized infrastructures,” but also the incentives to build automobile infrastructure for the sector. It just makes sense. However, South Korea’s population is extremely concentrated around Seoul Metro area, so Seoul disparately needs massive public transportation networks, like in Tokyo + bike lanes + tram system, anything to relief the congestion. I didn’t know how dense the population in Seoul Metro (about twice as much of Tokyo-Yokohama Metro), its central government has tried to relocate to another place outside of Seoul. I hope in newer developments will have much more alternatives for transportation because automobile infrastructures are too expensive even for Americans now.
@@鄭心和 Well, actually Japan built railroads in Korean Peninsula before motorization, started in late 19th century, (Japanese businesses had a large presence in Korean Peninsula at least from 19th century). Japanese government had a plan to build a high speed railroad system there in early 20th century.
I’ve been living in Taipei for 5 years. There’s nothing I dislike more about this place than the traffic. Seeing your comparison of what the city used to look like a decade ago made me appreciate the changes a bit. Your summary is right on pints. Cars still rule Taipei. What you didn’t mention (or perhaps I’ve missed it) is that cars Taiwanese prefer are getting bigger and bigger. There’s a lot more SUVs on the roads than even 3 years ago. This is not good.
Taiwan mentioned 🇹🇼🇹🇼🇹🇼 I will admit I am more than used to Taiwan's traffic hell at this point but at least where I'm from (Kaohsiung) there's a certain charm associated with the roads. Not to downplay the deadly collisions and general air of recklessness, but from an urbanist standpoint it's still streets ahead compared to parts of North America...in Kaohsiung this is exemplified by the heavy presence of trams and bikes (at least in my district) and I think Taiwan as a whole is slowly but surely moving towards the right direction. I've always wanted you to revisit Taiwan as a subject again and fantastic video as usual. Just wanted to also say I visited the Netherlands the other day because of your videos! How surreal...
Im legally blind and have bad balance but also love a good walk around my area. Those big lips of hight change in the old sidewalks would be quite scary for me. I would be rotating tripping and getting jabbed by my white cane in the hip when it hits them. Im so happy they smoothed them out but also made it a different texture than the side walks around it so low vision people can feel the ramp and know the level will change. This must prevent so many catastrophic falls and ofc less bruised hips for cane users. I wish Montréal where I call home could fix its uneaven and add shade covers like this too, not having sore eyes from the sun sounds dreamy
7:53 Actually this design is not only in Taiwan, it is also common in most Southeast Asian cities that I visited. The pedestrian and the shop is sheltered from the scorching sun and rain. Mostly from the heat I guess because the heat can goes up to more than 40°C in the hottest day + humid + no to little wind! Just a minute out in the sun then you will become a well done steak. Also many street in cities in SEA also livelier at night because the weather permitted to walk longer distance as you already mentioned night weather is significantly cooler than the day they rarely exceed 30°C in the hottest night from my experience. While during the day the heat make it unbearable to walk even for 15 minutes. I guess that is why scooter is more popular than bike cause it can travel faster and therefore escape from the heat faster and doesn't need to constantly pedaling that make you feel more exhausted and hot. It is also popular partly because it can reach speed similar to car in the city but it is cheaper to buy, run, and mantain the minus is no climate control.
The general trend I see with NJB videos and many others is that people are still wrapping their minds around the idea that we need to reduce car usage. But it is happening. Everywhere in the world we see solutions to improve the layout and design of cities, even if they are not perfect or plainly bad ones.
as someone who lived in taipei for five years but grew up in america, i would still pick taiwan every single time. in my opinion, the majority of the roads are not that bad in taipei and much more walkable compared to america.
I live in Malaysia and always been experience "living hell" in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It's a highway hell of the country, despite the only place in the country with multiple train line. 22.5 road death per 100k inhabitants in 2019. Riding bicycle there is generally unsafe. You not only have to look out for car, but the motorcyclist as well, same issue with Taiwan.
We need some more videos regarding Asia and their infrastructure. Forget Dutch, the Chinese roads I saw were so accessible to all types of people, it’s crazy how much thought was put into it
As a European living in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, I can only confirm all of this. I feel afraid to walk on the sidewalk and have developed habits I didn’t have before, such as checking before slightly changing direction while walking on the SIDEWALK, developed a survival instinct. I enjoy walking and avoiding public transport, and for this reason, I think the issue addressed in the video is one of Taiwan's biggest flaws, unfortunately...
Taiwanese here. There are several car manufacturers and many related industries in Taiwan (usually owned by foreign company), i guess government needs to make sure that people buy cars (or related workers might lose jobs and companies would leave), so they have to keep the road as wide as possible ( to accommodate more cars) . Also i think that's the reason why government keep putting off "normalizing" the standard of obtaining driving licence.
I lived in Taiwan for a few months in 2022. Coming from perspective of an Indonesian who used to live in much much worse street hell, I am impressed with Taipei City. Despite many drawbacks, I still enjoy living in Taipei with its metros, YouBike bikeshares, pedestrian areas, shophouses, and night markets. My biggest concerns are parked mopeds taking away pedestrian space, as well as dangerous driving behaviour of Taiwanese motorists. Biking in places without bike lanes gave me dilemma as well. Biking in roads is too dangerous, while biking in sidewalks means that I'll become the danger for the pedestrians. Walkable cities aren't built overnight. It will take decades to construct infrastructures, curb automobile usages, and change the mobility culture of the people. I believe that Taipei City is still halfway towards there, although other cities like Taichung & Hsinchu are still lagging behind. All they need is the consistency and dedication in political will in order to keep moving towards the right direction. Cutting incentives from cars & mopeds might push motorists towards taking public transport.
18:50 I've heard this is a problem in Britain. Britain does so few dedicated infrastructure projects that they are so puzzled at how places like Germany can build things cheaper than Britain can. I imagine the answer is to continually build stuff, rather than the impulse buying Britain has a habot of doing like with HS2 and stuff.
@@pearceburns2787 Honestly that makes a lot of sense, and reminds me of similar things the channel Perun always says about defence industrial capacity; you have to keep production flowing even when it's not strictly necessary, otherwise you need to rebuild that production from scratch when you _do_ need it.
hmmm alot of construction nowadays is delayed and overbudget. My local station was meant to get it's old platform back up and running with new footbridge by last year, It only opened this year.. And thats quite a small project just getting a old platform at a station up and running again biggest thing was footbridge and new roof.
German here. There indeednare projects going on like Stuttgart 21, but not in every city they are developing the infrastructure. Berlin, Munich aso. are exceptions to the country, like London to the UK. Ever since Merkel left though, the new government is finally throwing money at the rail infrastructure, and some cities (usually dependent on local politics) have started to experiment with better city design and optimizations.
Britain innovated the whole idea to an industrial scale too, then just meh stopped bothering. Now the same people who say they want to get back to the roots ignore those good things and are just totally mislead xD Re some construction delayed: not always e.g. Queensferry Crossing was close to budget and what a few months late due to extreme weather it still closes during anyway. Going overbudget is also sort of normal, because they are so long term and the cost itself isn't actually known until a few months before each section; if they don't go overbudget it means the government definitely overspent a lot or deemed that overspend worthwhile ideally.
Are you sure? All infrastructure projects tend to go way over budget. For example: erlin Brandenburg airport was supposed to cost plm € 2.8 billion, and in the end cost € 6.5 billion (and probably more). Amsterdam metro (North-south line) planned costs: € 1,5 billion, real cost € 3,1 billion.
Having visited both Taipei and Kaohsiung many times over the past decade or so, I can definitely say that there is progress with bike and pedestrian safety. The problem, as you stated in the video, is that Taiwan is still car centric in terms of mindset. In Taipei, thats changing, but in other cities like Kaohsiung, it really hasn’t. Kaohsiung has a small metro system consisting of subways and light rail/trams. But other than that, everything is car prioritized. The streets are extremely wide in some areas and have heavy congestion with the mopeds. I have yet to see proper bike lanes there and improved sidewalks (which have crazy drops and sometimes even steps instead of a bumpy ramp). In fact, the streets are so wide that my grandparents who live in Kaohsiung said that people in Taipei are impressed by them, and say how it’s so nice and beautiful to have such wide roads. It shows the car mindset is still very much engrained in the general public, and that needs to be changed in order for better safety within these transportation options.
I used to live in Tokyo and visited Taipei a few years ago. What annoyed me the most about the streets of Taipei is the pollution that gave me a headache after a few minutes. This has never happened to me in Japanese cities or anywhere in Europe. I understand that with the hot and humid climate a lot of people prefer to use mopeds than bicycles. I used to cycle to work in Tokyo and in summer it is just impossible to get to the office without arriving all sweaty. If the Taiwanese want to keep their mopeds it would be a good idea to ban petrol engines and have only electric mopeds. That would be a huge improvement for the street noise and pollution
I had a similiar experience when visiting Taiwan after visiting Japan, being completely spoiled by Japan, walking was just so much worse in Taiwan due to the traffic and the ridiculous noise levels. It's probably better to visit the these countries the other way around haha I can't wait for the Mopeds to get electrified. I was recently in Chengdu (incredibly interesting city) where almost all mopeds and around 50% of the cars were electric, and the difference was like night and day.
You made a good point about Metro exits that don’t go out on a busy street. In Warsaw it’s done quite well, about 50% of metro stations have some sort of exit that is clearly intended for end-of-route foot travel. My favourite is the chain of underground-to-overground ramps that go tens of metres into neighbourhoods before becoming level with the ground. Best examples on Metro Służew and Meto Imielin. Also in the southern part there are two stations - Metro Stokłosy and Metro Ursynów - that actually connect with roads that run through areas with lower ground, directly from the ticket gate level onto the pedestrianised street.
i love how, me as a malaysian that just came here study for a week(where the pedestrian situation is million times worse) just complimented about the pedestrian condition here, and this video just showed up on my feed.
*Some notes on the speed limiting of scooters and mopeds*: •Their unsprung weight from mounting the engine on the back wheel's suspension makes them a rough ride at high speeds. Banning suspension systems on scooters and mopeds altogether can limit their speed. •Their short wheelbase makes them unstable at high speeds. Making a legal limit on wheelbase and steering geometry can limit their speed. •Their small tire diameter makes them less stable and much rougher to ride at high speeds. Putting a legal limit on scooter/moped tire diameter can limit their speed. Electronic speed limiters are easy to remove and conceal. Changing the scooter's tires and geometry is very visible. Limiting engine sizes only limits the maximum load, not the speed.
as a taiwanese myself, i love that this video pointed out a lot of problems in Taiwan precisely and giving a lot of constructive solutions, probably because you used to live in Taiwan Taiwan's traffic has get significantly better i must say, but it's still below average in my opinion there are still a lot ridiculous drivers that still "stuck in the past" and doing ridiculous things and it's still fairly common The traffic situation is still not good
8:05 fun fact. In the very centre of Ljubljana Slovenia, they have enclosed such space covered by buildings (after they've been like that for almost a century) because the building owners realized that they can rent more space to the shops this way. Thus pedestrians have about 3m less space and no cover from rain or sun. Yay for capitalism
This is very common in Taiwan too, as there is extremely lax enforcement. Taipei made an effort to clear and level the walkways but other cities have not.
The bad parts remind me of Manila. It has been a few years since I visited, but I still remember it as the least walkable city I have ever been to. I heard it is very slowly improving.
Hey, just wanted to point something out. I like your channel and your podcast very much and your style and history of living is very fascinating to me and tbh you sensitized me for the urbanism movement (although my thinking was the same beforehand of cause, just without the knowledge that there's a community this brought behind all of this). Especially in the Agenda podcast you promote Nebula, but I'm always hesitant to watch the videos over there. I of cause have a Nebula subscription and follow you over there, but I feel the audience on Nebula is mostly of a certain mindset - "preselected" and doesn't need convincing anymore. And bc I only found your channel and the connected network via the almighty algorithm I returned to watching your videos on YT. I sincerely hope that you still get the fair share of my nebula subscription though me following your channel but I feel it serves a better purpose watching on YT.
As a Taiwanese, I must mention something misunderstood in this video. "Mopeds" in this video are actually considered as motorcycles by most Taiwanese because you need 普通重型機車駕照( offical name " Ordinary Heavy Motorcycle Licence") to ride and this licence is basically equivalent as A1 licence in European countries(up to 249 cc). Second, Taiwanese are NOT ALLOWED ride their motorcycles on road with 禁行機車("motorcycles prohibited"). "motorcycles prohibited"s usually appear on bridges, inner lane of major roads, and ALL part of national freeways( similar as Autosnelweg in Nederland, Autobahn in Germany) despite the fact that most motorcycles are capable to go over 60 km/hr. If you want go to Xinyin from Zhonghe or vice versa, you"ll have to cross rivers and ride on EXTREMELLY DANGEROUS motorcycle lane on a bridge. motorcycle lane are so small that even 2 metre width ambulance can not go through to save riders if traffic accidents occur. However, if you ride "heavy motorcycles"( motorcycles with engine displacement over 250 cc), then you are prohibited to use ANY motorcyc lanes regardless of your wish. except for freeways which NO MOTORCYCLES (regardless of engine displacement de facto) are allowed on freeways. Hook turn are mandatory for motorcycles with engine displacement below 250cc, and prohibited for motorcycles over 250cc. The strange traffic rules are due to motorcycles with engine displacement over 250cc have to follow "car" regulations unless specific indicated. It is not easy for foreigneers to understand traffic issues and road crises in Taiwan. But I personally agree many points in this video to make Taiwan a better place : )
They are motor scooters. Motorcycles have a chain, which turns the back wheel. Motor scooters have direct drive engines turning the back wheel without a chain, allowing drivers to knock their knees in front of them. Mopeds have pedals and engines (they are powered by a combination of a motor pulling the chain and the foot-powered pedals.) Since mopeds traditionally had the smallest engines, the smallest engine vehicles were given "moped-class licenses." That led to people calling small motor scooters mopeds.
@@JonathanRBarnard Taiwanese licensing doesn't even distinguish between manual and automatic transmission, at least for "white plate" motorcycles. By the way most scooters sold in Taiwan uses CVT, making them technically motorcycles.
@@JonathanRBarnard The definitions of vehicle types aren't set in stone, they vary depending on legislation. For example, there is no requirement for mopeds to have pedals in Sweden, which is where the word moped comes from.
16:41 i feel like having electric mopeds instead of petrol mopeds would make things quite a bit better, st least noise wise. (This is what lower tier cities in China do)
I saw quite a few electric mopeds but I think the issue is the lack of charging infrastructure around cities still. Gogoro is pretty neat in that they have a battery replacement service though
@@MsKateC2K My parents hometown in china runs off of those, and they have charging infrastructure everywhere. Anywhere with a 240V outlet is a place you can charge our electric moped.
It's really cool to see Taipei from your perspective! Sometimes I abstract your videos as if they exist in an alternate plane; but seeing them in places I've lived in is eye-opening. It makes me feel like real change is possible, even for me. As an American living in Taiwan for five years, I thought it was way better than the US, but I agree it has so much further to go. Also, if you ever get a chance, I'd love to see your take on Tainan, or god forbid Yunlin (Douliu is AWFUL). Literally this WEEK I was walking in a tiny street as a white mercedes with tinted windows swerved in going at least 40km/hr, getting so close to me -- I went to flip them off but they'd already zoomed away. I love Taiwan but it's really scary even walking around. And the pedestrain deaths! Last year a little girl was run over by a car so close to where I live. And someone else was run over at my university just recently. It's really scary! (Though I still think the US is scarier)
I speak Japanese, and even though I don't speak Taiwanese, I could recognize some of the symbols and guess what they meant. For example, I was able to guess that 人行道 means "sidewalk" because the symbols mean "person" + "go" + "path." In Japanese, sidewalk is 歩道, "walk" + "path."
I know that cars are often the problem, but motorcycles, oh my God, motorcycles are even worse than cars here in Colombia. They are a real problem, to the point where people hate motorcycles more than cars. It would be interesting if you could address the problems of motorcycles in cities or countries in a video.
I'm assuming its riders who change the exhaust of their bikes for better performance/sound. Most modern motorcycles are actually quiet from the factory. And then there's the riders (mainly sportbike riders) who think its fine to take the racing line and speed through the streets. Another thing is that some riders will ride up to 4000RPM or above compared to car drivers that rarely cross that.
@@mix3k818 Gdynia's city council is currently renovating the entire city at once it seems. they put down a new bike path... that ends abruptly in seemingly a random place and drops people on bikes onto the sidewalk. it doesn't seem that they plan to change it. gratulacje panie Szczurku
It depends on the city. Here, where I live, city centre was totally rebuilt last year. There are great bike lanes everywhere, almost no traffic lights (they were replaced by roundabouts). It's easier to drive a car too. I think the trend nowadays is to create bike lanes and infrastructure in case of rebuilding and renovating streets. People want this.
I stayed in Kaohsiung a couple of months and nearly every time I took a taxi the driver was on their phone. There was even a driver that was watching tiktoks
Probably the most important video you’ve made in a while, showing how even a notoriously bad place in fact one of the worst places can make changes even if they’re not the most substantial it shows that Taipei is not completely subservient to historical missteps.
This is so true, as a Dutchie with a Tainan wife I can only agree with you on this video. The example of the yellow lone & orange line is really true as well, this is not too far away from where my family in law lives, they have a kind of elevator short cut but this change takes unnecessary long because car trafic has a higher priority.
The painted sidewalks at 5:00 are probably still there because a raised footpath would require moving all the drainage, which is far more expensive than installing the raised footpath.
They've been on the rise! One thing NJB didn't show is that within Taipei, there are tons of battery walls for electric mopeds! Unfortunately they won't alleviate the traffic problems, but they really helped with the air quality and some of the noise (tire on asphalt is still unfortunately loud)
I agree with the problems you mentioned in the video. Walking or cycling on Taiwan’s roads has always been challenging. Yes, some sidewalks have been renovated and larger ones have been constructed, but there just isn’t enough. The funny thing is, when walking on a sidewalk, pedestrians have to worry about being hit by a moped (this literally happened to me a couple of years ago, I got sent to the hospital right away). Taiwan’s been increasing the number of Youbikes, but the lack of proper bike lanes make it ridiculously hard to navigate in the city. Therefore, cyclists may meet with the dilemma of either cycling on the road and taking the risk of being hit by cars and mopeds, or cycling on the sidewalk and taking space away from the pedestrians. A friend of mine that has many years of experience in driving on Taiwan’s roads, told me that he’s noticed the decrease in driving skills in recent years. More and more ridiculous drivers are on the road and thus making the traffic more dangerous. Such as unexpected movement and lack of the use of signal lights. Taiwan’s traffic safety has been increasing over the years, but very slowly. Drivers need to be more careful and we should all respect the road boundaries. More importantly, the government needs to face the problem of overloaded mopeds and cars, and give pedestrians the freedom to walk safely.
Everything you've said just makes me think you'd like SIngapore. ✓ most side walks are at least 1 M unless they are single lane roads for residential or old areas / shophouses ✓ trees on sidewalks or recessed ground floor shops with covered walkways ✓ dedicated bus lanes (these are normal roads that have a different marking that are exclusively for busses during peak periods. Our busses have cameras so fines are issued if you stay on the lane for too long without turning or something) ✓ New metro (MRT) stations opening every other year ✓ car lite (compared to most asian, especially SEA countries) ✓ MRT stations exit to malls or covered walkways (those exiting next to a road have barriers) the only difference is that the bicycle lanes are mostly only being built in residential areas so they are not very viable as a mode of daily transport, especially to work.
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I swear I feel like I am subconsciouslly following your footsteps ahahahha, I live in Amsterdam Zuid (well technically amstelveen) and study Artificial Intelligence at the university there (the VU) and now I am on exchange in Taipei.. where clearly you know everything about already! I kept on seeing my streets when you filmed around amstelveen.. AND NOW I SEE MY STREETS HERE IN TAIPEI.. crazy stuff... would be very interested to know what you worked for here in taiwan considering my study... love your work, love the videos, funny coincidences :)
So they got like 100 high speed trains a day and in america we were celebrating that amtrack recently began running like 8 trains a day from chicago to twin cities
You should have queue for chicken ass
In the city I live, Groningen, they're going to make a very long busy street a mainly bicycle focused one. It's called the Korreweg and as someone living on this street I follow the development of how it will turn out closely. Perhaps it's worth checking out this project in the years to come as I think it will be a great example of how a high bicycle traffic road can be improved for the better. We get around 15k cyclist every day on this street alone. Currently the bicycle paths are very narrow and not capable of passing all those bikes safely every day. Accidents happen (don't have the statistics), but it really needs improvement.
What's your thoughts on Ireland's public transport? If you haven't been here that's fine.
As a Taiwanese, our people always think that car and wide road is the symbol of developed country. In addition, some store owner will refuse to "paint" the sidewalk in front of their store because they think that only car can bring money, not pedestrian. Therefore, it is very difficult to build sidewalk or bus lane in here.
Oh yes , the unmoderated money 'thing' we'll need to look into that sometime . . . it appears to disturb lots of things.
the part about the store owners is just silly, you can fit so many more people in your store if they dont need to all have a car! foot traffic is oftentimes a great way to increase the overall volume of customers, because its so much easier to just hop from store to store as you walk down a road than it is to worry about parking.
When I'm on foot, ill pop in and out of stores without a worry. when im driving, i will oftentimes just say "ehhh, that store looks interesting, but i dont wanna deal with parking again..."
I understand WHY these lines of thinking happen, and I cant really fault people so much for the misconception of "cars=developed" (especially cause it might be a bit of an export from western countries like america, where we kinda got the same mindset), but god is it frustrating
As well, Taiwanese think riding motorcycle is the symbol of being adult while bicycle is the symbol of children toy. They also look down on people who walk to take public transport.
Show those people Naypyidaw and see how well that theory holds up!
The car has been pushed as the symbol of progress everywhere for a long time now. Sites like "NotJustBikes" are actually pretty radical.
The irony is that Taiwan is a major center of the bicycle industry.
It is. That majority of the worlds bikes are built there
@@a1white That was probably true when NJB lived in Taiwan, but now China is the top producer.
The largest bicycle manufacturer in the world is Taiwan's Giant Bicycles. It produces more than 6 million bicycles every year.
@@CrapKerouac I used to sell them. At one time Giant also produced the carbon fiber for their carbon fiber bikes.
The Youbike system is kind of a product of that industry as it's run by Giant. It definitely helps to have one of the largest manufacturers do it when trying to build a bikeshare system.
I still feel that irony though.
I also want to mention the bike paths, if they exist, are so terribly built that there are places where you will run into a concrete wall head first. They even removed a sidewalk so scooters can hook turn, forcing you to walk around it.
The cycling network in Taiwan followed the terrible Japanese design. Around the late 2000s Kaohsiung has some great infrastructure, some recreational routes that largely followed the Dutch design, but it has been neglected for years, hence there has not been any expansion.
I was somewhat into biking in my middle school, and I still remember there's a bike path that had a pole right in the middle.
That's impressive in some way
@@tracegomez i would like to get those coordinates.
i have never encountered something like that anywhere in The Netherlands.
so to me it sounds like one of these scenarios:
- you where somewhere you weren't supposed to cycle and overlooked the right cycle lane in the area.
- there was construction going on, but in those cases there are plenty of signs to show you how to continue your journey.
- it was in a place that's still being build. over here they often build the cycle lanes first in a new development, then the houses and lastly the roads get made (because otherwise the roads would fall apart due to the construction vehicles using it)
@@MarcoGPUtuber Yup , Taiwan has Youbike , aka one of the best bicycle rental systems in the world , but it’s a shame that our environment for bikers and pedestrians is pretty much garbage
@@ChristiaanHW more often they will first build a work road of a rough asfalt. good for heavy trucks and what not.
only when the project is done will they replace the asfalt for bricks.
I ended up in the ER as a pedestrian when working in Taichung in 2017. I got a walk sign, walked across an unobstructed zebra crossing on a single lane road in an orange shirt like in the thumbnail. Suddenly I was up on a windshield of a car that had come up behind me and turned right on red through the crosswalk. The police had the driver's dashcam video and said it was a 'cultural misunderstanding' because I didn't turn around and check for any cars that might turn right on red without slowing, ignore the walk signs, and not notice pedestrians
Well, did you learn to watch your surroundings better?
Looking before crossing is always a good idea, but the police should never have insinuated that it was somehow your fault for not noticing. An illegal move is still an illegal move. Turning right on red isn't even allowed here unlike the US. Hope you have recovered.
@@SL16867you are not supposed to have to watch behind you when passing a zebra crossing, pedestrian has the right of way
@@hummingbird71Police saying that is how you allow people to get killed.
@@Celphirio Woosh!
Great video! As a Taiwanese citizen I can tell you that Taiwan will likely still be a pedestrian hell after 10 years. The amount of drivers complaining about how pedestrians often crossed the zebra lines "too slowly" and should "grow some mutual respect to car drivers" is just surprising. Additionally, anywhere outside Taipei (maybe plus a few more special municipality cities) is pretty much the same scene you experienced in the New Taipei City. We desperately need better designed city that focuses on pedestrians, bikes and public transits.
Visiting Taiwan as a reckless twenty something, it was so fun driving a moped everywhere. But cities shouldn't be designed solely around reckless twenty somethings.
Disagree. As a reckless American who is no longer 20 something, I still recognize we have some of the worst drivers on the planet. I yearn for the polite recklessness of Asia, where people don't actively try to hit you and bend the rules instead of getting mad at you because the rules made you inconvenience them.
Totally agree
@@StefanBaconAmerica breeds a culture of violence and destruction
@@StefanBaconpeople still get mad at you in Asia, this isn't some utopia where everyone is magically polite and devoid of human emotion...
@@StefanBacon Thailand hasn't changed. You will still see people riding motorcycles without helmets, wearing flip-flops and people riding around in the back of trucks while standing up. There's a part of me that loves it, but thankful my own country isn't like that.
Bro Taichung has the worst pedestrian infrastructure in all of Taiwan because it doesn't exist.. A walking trip to Fengchia Market almost cost me my life smh
Be safe, that sounds horrible
The municipality of Taichung has been a running joke in spatial planning advocacy community of Taiwan.
as a person that lives in Taichung and ACTUALLY lived near fengchia night market i can approve this
Nah, it will improve in no time. City Hall has already realised the problem: it needs wider roads!
No, I'm not joking. That's their conclusion.
@@xiaokuo._ anywhere outside of Shizhengfu area is pedestrian's nightmare
I was living in Taiwan from August 2023 to June 2024, and it's absolutely true that although the MRT has become such an efficient metro system, it's still a common problem with the traffic congestion during rush hour, and bike lanes are still less prioritised, although it's possible to bike along the Jingmei River just fine.
But yeah, if you walk on the absurdly narrow sidewalks in Taipei, you should be careful when moped drivers suddenly drive behind you and expect to have the privilege to pass by you. Sidewalks in Taipei are absolutely a living hell, cause it's so unpredictable I would say.
@@languist if that's living hell, try walking on Vietnam pavement
@@HaiLeQuang no need to one-up, both are terrible
Honestly speaking as a former local, Taiwan is only good when it comes to recreational routes. Daily commuting routes are almost non-existent despite how good U-bikes has came to be.
My grandpa lives in Taiwan’s taoyuan city and the part of town where he is living in has no fucking pedestrian at all, I always have to walk on roads with cars zooming past me every time I visit him, i can never get used to that place since I live in Hong Kong which has much better public transit
Sorry Taipei is already the best in Taiwan. There's no infrastructure of sidewalks out of taipei city. Taiwan's traffic is just like india level.
身為同時住在新北中和，生活圈在包含萬華在內的台北市，也曾住在臺灣最糟糕的行人地獄之一：臺南的我
完全可以同感您的感想
而同時身為剛從埔里這個台灣知名觀光區附近大學畢業的人，回台北最不適應的居然是「我居然有能正常走的人行道！」
事實上，我曾在埔里看到埔里攤位會擺攤到大馬路上，然後四線道就被佔用成三線道的狀況，而行人、違停車輛、汽機車就要在這向的道路上爭道。必須說，那邊走起來真的是戰場、地獄，我的身體必須提高警惕、心跳頻率，才能避免自己成為明天的社會版面跟一塊靈位。
台北在行人交通上的改進確實是台灣最快的地方了，一方面能看到這麼多改變是好事，但也擔憂「這居然已經是最好的了」，這顯示了台灣交通平權的路還十分漫長。
至於我的故鄉台南，因為老舊城市格局、大眾運輸不便，以及居民的反抗心態。其實至今在行人的方面上仍沒有太大展境，甚至因為先天的地形因素，臺南會偶爾突然冒出個跟路面差距快50公分的騎樓落差，只因為商家、民居各自不願考量整體道路平順，而政府也不怎麼願意介入）
但，臺南仍有在這十幾年內進步的部分，像是最早的公車系統改進，到前幾年的youbike系統引入（但根據上週的騎乘經驗，必須說，你被迫在比機車更沒有防具的情況下，跟高速行駛的汽機車共用道路，更別說還有不少臨時停車，其實很危險）；上個月初，台南市府也在台南市區內開放機車允許跟汽車一樣，直接切換左轉車道而左轉，不強制「兩段式左轉」。至少在機車仍可能是未來20年臺南最常出現的交通工具來說，這是個進步。
另外，最近臺南也開始進一步討論已經延宕3-40年的捷運系統，雖然可能看起來也還要十幾年，但至少也有進步。
我去年陪年邁的母親回故鄉台南走走, 只是在找碗粿吃解饞, 卻像在翻山越嶺, 怕媽媽跌倒, 也怕自己跌倒, 一路上媽媽都勾著我的臂膀。台南美術館可以蓋得這麼好, 為甚麼那些街道無法改善? 想到前台南市長現在是總統... 唉...
台南交通治理真的比台中進步有感
人口更高的高雄，地下捷運都仍是虧損。台南只適合蓋輕軌或公車。海安路倒是一個不錯的示範，以行人徒步區為主只給單線車道，反而帶來很好的商機。
身為台灣人看到這個影片真的很感動，點出交通核心問題以及超爛的自行車道(我騎youbike被逼車超多次)，然後騎到一半還要跟行人爭道，還有一些自行車道路面品質差，導致騎乘過程更危險，台灣現在是車本主義，希望能透過這次cnn報導事件讓台灣交通變成人本交通
感觉也没有很车本主义，我都不敢在西部城市开车，很怕有行人/bike突然出现，而且也没有停车的地方😢花莲台东更适合开车，花莲也没有youbike
没行人道無路可走所以人人騎車代步，為什麼沒行人道（全世界都有）阿K要負責
現在要重建行人道只能把第一排房子拆卸，可能嗎 當然無法度
台灣人口高齡化 老一輩的觀念是 車子越大台路權越大
想多了凱留 你忘記了嗎 是黃種人專屬的自私主義
Taiwanese here. If you're wondering what locals think: Yes, I can confirm it's still a living hell, especially in the south where I live. You're welcome.
@@chelinchan24 repping from Taichung, this place is a fucking mess
@@conorbrennan100 and only ONE metro line built in 30 years, I have no idea what the city government is doing
NGL I didn't have a bad time walking around in Kaohsiung, but that was for less than a day during my layover lol
@@fishywafflefries The BRT is actually fine - its just another political third rail. Light rail is the next.
臺北可以討論一下，臺中高雄硬體可以。
其他地區就是個交通索多瑪區域，能不去就別去。
I’m a Canadian living in Japan. The lack of tree coverage here is absolutely insane. Especially as the summers get hotter, it’s just awful. Not only that, but the lack of shade means that the cities just hold onto the heat all night.
The worst is when they plant trees but then cut them so aggressively that they provide no shade whatsoever. 😊
As a Japanese that recently moved from Tokyo to Vancouver, this is so true! I swear if I ever move back to Japan I'll miss all the green that I can see everyday.
Japan and other places around the world clocked hottest summers. Also sign of global warming, a lot of Chinese wealthy have moved from China and HK to... SAPPORO. The place that had.. harshest winters.
one of the things I truly love about Pittsburgh. It's a car-centric city like many American cities, sure, but the terrain means most roads are all windy and slow, especially once you're outside the downtown area, and there's tons of undeveloped spots with trees and bushes everywhere because the city is so old and has never been bombed or destroyed by an earthquake or tornado or anything (the Appalachian mountains are incredibly old and stable) so it was built up without bulldozing everything flat first and has remained that way for centuries.
EXACTLY my experience when I was in Japan for 15 days in 2019. The major cities are literal concrete jungles and I missed the greenery I could see everywhere back home in Vancouver. Made me wonder how healthy (or unhealthy) it must be to live in a place with little direct and daily access to nature in the way of lush, rich parks with lots of trees and other flora long term.
Boo hoo
3:35 The trash truck music is still the same, it just varies between districts. For example, some of Taipei City districts play Fur Elise and some the old sound, while most of New Taipei's districts still play the old sound.
Yes, I know both songs are in use but the song has changed in that part of Taipei.
@@NotJustBikes 'Für Elise' is already my personal horror music, cannot imagine hearing it from a rubbish lorry. At that point i would just lie down & let it run me over, i guess.
@@LeafHuntress
Why is it horror for you?
@@faustourrutia6859 I believe the old sound is "a maiden's prayer"
@@LeafHuntress Even worse that the version they play is a 16-bit render of it 😂
一個外國人居然能把台灣交通分析的這麼透徹…交通部的那堆官員有看到嗎？別再睡了！！
交通部以及更重要的地方市政府其實都知道。問題是選民。多數台灣人一看到自家門口的停車格被消掉、車道縮減、或是被禁止在騎樓人行道做生意，馬上就會打給議員去罵。
王國材領銜，三黨通過的微罪不檢舉，很遺憾，台灣路人的命不是命
@@commenter4898 Genauso wie in meiner Stadt in Deutschland.
@@commenter4898 想多了⋯他們根本沒有做事⋯⋯都是一些官富遠親關係進來卡位⋯⋯混吃等死領補助旅遊等退休
10:38 There's an old, running joke in the car community that Audi's idea of advertising is to park an Audi in the way of something, so I just burst out laughing at this!
It's incredibly stupid how people just accepted motor vehicles causing this much harm and noise when a few years ago none of this existed
yet it generated LOTS of capitalism money, guess its finally producing consquences..
@@Wintergatanaddict it didn't generate nothing. The only achievement was filling lobbyists and politicians pockets.
The United States has an identical problem with firearms.
@nil981 if people in the usa don't want guns they can pass a amendment banning guns, until then they are legal
@Ashinle moped-dependency is more challenging problem than car-dependency. It has the flexibility of bikes but with the dangers of cars. Bikes are having a hard time competing against mopeds because mopeds can go where bikes go, but without the hassle of biking footwork.
The CNN report really embarrassed the Taiwanese government. The government is just putting on a show, but in reality, neither the government nor most people care about traffic at all. Because most foreigners stay in Taipei, only Taipei bothers with appearances. Once you step outside of Taipei, you'll see the real hell.
It's ironic, isn't it? When Taiwanese people speak up about traffic, it doesn't make a difference. But when foreigners raise the issue, that's when things start to change.
Foreigners be the ones doing foreign trade and business. Don't want the guests to have any reason to leave
@@Cryosxify Yes, you’re right, but it’s sad that the fact 8 people die every day is considered irrelevant by the government in Taiwan. It seems that the opinions of foreigners are more important than the lives of Taiwanese people.
Everyone in the government only drives a car anyway, it's a status symbol. They wouldn't dream of taking public transit or walking, certainly not outside of Taipei. This video gives Taiwan way too much credit, they have blood on their hands.
Governments gotta save face
One peculiar thing about Taiwan is that foreign interference often caused more change than internal pressure.
I guess its a result of how dependent they are on good terms of the rest of the world, without recognition anything can come and go at a whim like a dead pedestrian.
It's nice to watch a video where I know and have walked where the B roll is shot. Traffic is easily the worst part of living in Taiwan. Pedestrian Hell is no joke, it's a shame you didn't have time to cover other cities. The more southern you go, the crazier.
This is so true, I’m from a district in New Taipei City called Linkou it’s like a 30 minutes drive from Taipei, and it is a place that’s built from scratch so the city design is a lot better than other places in Taiwan, and growing up there I thought that is what cities looks like all over Taiwan, when the first time I went to Tainan I was so shocked as a kid, I even thought I was in a different country, the scooters were cutting crazy on the road and on the sidewalks, I can’t even count how many time I was almost hit by one.
@@arandomdude7182you don’t even need to leave New Taipei City to see how crazy the traffic is, I live in Zhonghe and it’s a nightmare walking here
@@ZlligillZ agreed. kind of an odd feeling since its so rare to see your local area depicted in international media (im from oslo, so im thinking abojt a different video)
@@arandomdude7182 I have similar experience, I moved from Taipei to Tainan ten years ago, Tainan was a lot like Vietnam 10 years ago, scooters would never stop for pedestrian, It has improved a lot recently but sidewalks are still uncommon.
In Taiwan, if you accidentally killed someone while driving, you usually go to jail for less than 3 years.
Also, you still have a great chance to regain your driver license.
There are truck drivers that have killed people several times yet still driving on road today.
Please be careful around cars when you visit Taiwan 😢
外國人：I love Taiwan.
台灣人：『謝謝你喜歡台灣』
外國人：road safety is a problom.
台灣人：『不爽滾去其他國家』
就是這樣, 不能說缺點, 我就是說了, 被一群台灣人攻擊。我很久前離開台灣, 部分原因也是摩托車的噪音和空氣汙染, 對面鄰居的大狗老是到我家門口解便, 還有摩托車騎士常常在聊天, 車沒熄火。
換成中國也成立ㄎㄎ
For those of you who can't read Chinese, the last line is more like "Fuck off"
Many Taiwanese believe that Taiwan has only advantages and no disadvantages.
＂不遵守中華民國交通法規的也請滾出中華民國＂🤓
I go to Taiwan often. Next time your should visit Taichung, it's the most car dependent city on the island in my opinion. It was a lot worse than Taipei
I have some VERY bad memories of Taichung. I'm not really sure I want to relive them!
@@NotJustBikes my first visit to Taiwan was in 2002. Passing though Taichung by bus, we stopped outside the railway station to change to a different bus on the way to Chiayi and I noticed a train at odd angles in the station. I went over to check and the train was indeed derailed over several tracks at the end of the platform. Turned out a truck going under the tracks had hit the bridge as an empty train was approaching.
A good first impression of the city. 😆
I live in Taichung, I can only rely on scooter or car to commute😢
There’s almost no metro or other public transportation to replace private vehicles.For students and elderly, the only feasible public transportation is bus. But there’s still a lot of problem about bus in Taichung, like accessibility, driver overworked, few shifts and road configurations about separating personal vehicles and bus.
Overall, Taichung is ironically the rapidly growing city in the middle of Taiwan .Nantou, Changhua and so on , these cities’ populations moved to Taichung recently for better opportunities and life. However, it seems like Taichung isn’t ready for welcoming growth. What government does is only paving more road for private vehicles rather than restricting.
Traffic in Taichung will be worsened in near future…
@@Yutinglai-p5y I lived in Taichung for a while over a decade ago, it's sad to hear it hasn't changed. That city is SO spread out and awful to navigate without a car, it's the worst on the west side by far.
Taiwanese here 🙋♂️ As mentioned in the video, transportation in Taiwan has indeed improved in recent years. However, due to legal reasons, our traffic planning is managed by different government agencies. For example, the introduction of green-painted pedestrian pathways is due to the fact that the agency responsible for creating physical sidewalks and the agency in charge of road design are different. Therefore, legal regulations will be one of the key factors for future advancements in Taiwan's transportation.
BTW your Mandarin is gooood🔥
路側就是三不管地帶，藏污納垢。
死傷人數節節攀升 哪來的改善?
2023年死傷人數不減反增，且受傷人數比去年多逾四萬人。
The fact that Taipei has exhausted options for increasing walkability without affecting cars reminds me a lot of Rome in Italy, where significant progress has been made for improving cycling and walkability in these past years but always in ways that would marginally inconvenience driving. It would be very very interesting to cover Rome in the future.
Roma lost Lukaku. Lukaku went to napoli 😔
I remember watching one of your videos about the bike parking systems in the Netherlands, and it left a strong impression on me. Thanks so much for taking the time to create this piece on Taipei! As someone from Taiwan, I really hope our cities can also become more people-friendly, and we’re working hard to push things in that direction. Hopefully, in 10 years, when you come back to Taiwan, not just Taipei, but other cities too will feel safe and comfortable for visitors.
But since I’m a local, I also wanted to share a few observations and things worth discussing.
Recently, I read a book written by the former NYC Department of Transportation commissioner almost a decade ago. She talked about the challenges of improving pedestrian spaces and bike lanes in New York. People kept saying, “New York isn’t Amsterdam,” which shows how tough it can be for car-centric cities to make that kind of transition.
Taiwan’s situation is even more complex, so it’s tricky to compare us directly with Japan, Europe, or the US. There are two big reasons: (1) how we developed economically and (2) the tug-of-war between road infrastructure and public transit.
Our economic development is similar to South Korea's - both countries industrialized and urbanized rapidly. We’re more like Vietnam or Thailand in that sense. The cities grew so quickly that urban planning, zoning, and public transport couldn’t keep up with the population boom, unlike in Europe or the US, where things happened more gradually.
Then there’s the competition between road-focused development and mass transit. South Korea has had subways for 50 years; Taipei only started about 30 years ago. Compare that to Tokyo, where the subway system is vast and supports the entire metropolitan area. Taiwan only started moving away from US-style car culture about 20 years ago, so there’s still a lot to do.
Given this context, I don’t blame the moped riders. While locals get frustrated by mopeds weaving through traffic, parking everywhere, and even riding on sidewalks, these are symptoms of failed urban planning. Most moped riders are middle-class or lower, often young people or students just starting out with no assets. If there were better public transport options, no one would want to ride a moped (or at least not as their main mode of transport).
I’m glad you got to visit Zhonghe. From an metropolitan perspective, Taipei and New Taipei really should be seen as one, but unfortunately, they’re divided into separate administrative regions. Taipei city, as the capital, gets more resources. As you’ve seen, the city has changed a lot in the past decade, but those improvements only happen within Taipei city itself. Meanwhile, rents and property prices in Taipei are so high that most young people can’t afford to live there, even though the jobs are mostly in the city. As a result, more people have to live in places like Zhonghe, which, as you mentioned, feels like it hasn’t changed in 10 years. And commute to the CBD in Taipei city to work everyday.
New Taipei has been expanding its MRT network, but these new lines weren’t planned as a comprehensive system like Taipei’s original five lines. That’s why you saw such ridiculous transfer situations. So, whether living in New Taipei and commuting to Taipei by MRT will ever feel better than riding a moped is still up in the air. This also means that any plans to reduce car lanes need to be handled with caution. Without better commuting options, making it harder for New Taipei’s working class to ride their mopeds into Taipei could feel like a double hit for those who are already struggling.
Buses might be an area worth focusing on. Taipei has the most developed bus system in Taiwan, but we’re still far behind some cities in Central and South America that have successfully implemented BRT systems.
All in all, for Taiwan and many of the emerging cities in Southeast Asia, moving towards people-centered cities like in the Netherlands involves tackling a lot of unique issues (especially mopeds). It’ll take some localized, innovative solutions, but hopefully, one day Taiwan’s cities can become models for others in Asia.
Taiwanese here, the odd thing about me is that I actually prefer foreigners discussing the loopholes of Taiwan over compliments. Surely compliments can bring us the feeling of achievement and satisfaction, but reflecting critically on the significant flaws of Taiwanese infrastructure can get us a chance to make the government take action (at least if the DPP is willing to).
問題是台灣真的沒啥好讚美的地方
更多的讚美你只會覺得很假
還有那個假愛台灣黨就別說了吧
There's a newly built light rail system in Kaohsiung, people are complaining about how it take too much space from road and causing traffic jam, completely ignore the fact that it's cars and mopeds causing traffic jam.
You'll hear this kind of pushback from drivers no matter what lol
And ignoring the students who uses them for commute...
I saw it when it was being built there. I'd prefer the MRT too.
As a Hongkonger and a biker living in Taiwan, here are some of my observations:
1. The transport department still refuses to reconsider the "low standards" of driving tests.
2. Drivers continue to complain about "pedestrians walking too slowly." While drivers face fines of NT6000 for not yielding to pedestrians, jaywalkers are fined only NT600. It is rarely heard that the police issue tickets for jaywalking, likely because it's difficult to enforce.
3. Drivers and bikers remain reckless, and poor driving habits seem ingrained. This is largely due to the lack of proper transportation education over the past decades. It's not that they don't want to drive well; it's just that "they don't know they're doing anything wrong."
4. Because of the low standards for obtaining driving licenses and widespread bad driving behavior, the transport department and local Taiwanese media often shift the focus to scooter riders. However, scooters are not the only group to blame. This tactic of creating conflict among different types of vehicles serves to distract from the transport department's core responsibility for these problems.
I have also reached out to key opinion leaders (KOLs) focused on road design improvements. It turns out that officials within the transport department usually lack professional knowledge. Even when some encounter advanced, internationally-standard designs, these ideas are often banned by town mayors. Unfortunately, many of these mayors lack any traffic expertise and base their decisions solely on concerns like "convenience for parking cars or scooters," disregarding the rights of pedestrians.
What you say is true!
Jay walking is an American crime invented by the car industry.
unsurprising since there's lots of scooters for rent in other areas like Taizhong, will probably loose votes too if implemented quickly
支性殘留以及北美失敗交通的完美結合。
Sounds like Vancouver.
I live in Taipei for almost 16 years and I am so glad to see you covering this beautiful island. As a German there's just no way I can drive in Taipei... it just freaks me out. Thank god we have a great public transport system
Nah, you get used to it pretty quick. I used to drive in Hanoi and that is properly insane. But I only had two crashes. Now I'm in Beijing and it's not a problem, even though there doesn't seem to be a single person who actually knows how to drive properly and the road design is done by preschoolers!
Don't get me started. I have driven from Amsterdam to Frankfurt for the cheaper flight to Taiwan, and coming from the autobahn to the Taiwanese motorways literally a day after straight up gave me aneurysm.
@@bugsygoo Only had two crashes? People only have two crashes in their whole lifetimes.
@@Betweoxwitegan 🤣Not in Vietnam they don't!
@@bugsygooONLY HAD 2 CRASHES
I’m an American living here for more than 20 years now. As I see it, it has definitely improved over the years. Even more so recently.
The worst offenders:
1. Scooters
2. Taxis and Ubers
3. Blue delivery trucks
4. Wealthy people in luxury cars.
You've just named 70% of Taiwan's road traffic... lmao
@@canto_v12 5. Grandpa who drives because he can't balance on his scooter anymore
你觀察的很仔細，分析的也很好，甚至比很多台灣當地人好，甚至連台北跟東京在一些交通狀況上的差異都有發現，我也曾經去過東京，對於這麼大的城市路上車流卻相當看起來很少感到有點訝異，但我後來發現，那些在路面上消失的車流，其實都是擠進了龐大繁忙的東京地鐵裡面，東京地鐵在尖峰時刻的人潮就跟台北尖峰時刻的車潮一樣可怕😱大家都前胸貼後背的站在一起，有些站點甚至需要動用工作人員在車門口「推人」😮許多看到這個畫面的外國人大概都很驚訝，但這也是東京能夠減少路面車流的一個關鍵吧..另一個就是嚴格的停車規範，讓東京居民都必須在擁有自有停車位的狀況下才能買車，搭配不允許路邊停車的規定，的確讓東京的大街小巷有更多行人空間，行人行走起來更愜意，但東京還有一個台北無法改善且適合步行的特點就是天氣..台北濕熱的氣候對比東京的乾燥涼爽，實在讓步行這件事在除了人行道建設不良外，讓人意願更低，這也是為什麼台灣更多人傾向騎車或開車的原因之一，加上騎車或開車往往比搭乘大眾運輸加上步行更能貼近目的地；但最近幾年對行人友善的設施不斷的在改善與建設中，至少在台北我看到許多路口有把人行道外推，減少行人穿越路口的距離，以及建置行人庇護島之類的工程，有些可能並不在你常會去的區域，所以你可能沒有看到，如果有機會可以留在台灣更久的時間，去到更多地方，或許你會看到更多一點的改變😅雖然很多人也覺得還不夠多就是了😅
氣候是個迷思。東京的夏天並沒有比台北涼爽多少、新加坡絕對比台北濕熱，但他們都有比我們更好的行人硬體設計，不只安全，也更吸引人走路。套用到腳踏車也是，北歐國家也曾經說他們不像荷蘭那樣適合騎腳踏車，因為天寒地凍，但事實證明完善的腳踏車設施出現後，騎腳踏車的人就是增加了。氣候因素不該是不完善行人、腳踏車設施的藉口。
Yes. Slightly better in the south, where sidewalks are bigger. But for a country that has perfect weather and flat cities, it's a real shame that everyone drives a car or scooter instead of just biking.
Kaohsiung did well when they built the 2 MRT lines. That's it and the pedestrian space was quickly turned into white plate heaven anyway
Well, I'd argue their hurricanes and stuff are imperfections.
i agree though i'd argue 34C + humidity in ~july, as well as rain in general isn't 'perfect weather'
@@millatha-82 I think rain counts as good weather.
kaoshiung is a lot better than Tainan in the south.
As a foreigner with a Taiwanese scooter license the one thing I can tell you: Virtually no one is going 50, unless there's heavy traffic. If they know the roads and where potential speed cameras are (which most locals do), they'll often go around 70-80 in the cities
I would note that it's partly a planning problem. The speed limit of 50 is the highest one on roads, applied to even the biggest throughfares in a city. Since the speed limits don't make sense, nobody listens to them except where speed cameras force them to, which is usually low-traffic roads where speeding wouldn't really matter (and where extremely low speed limits make the least sense).
If 4-lane arterial thoroughfares had sensible speed limits, like 70 or 80, then I suspect people would actually listen on those roads with posted speed limits of 50 and below.
While Taiwan has made commendable strides towards multimodal transport, one aspect that often goes underappreciated in such transformations is the broader cultural shift required. It’s not just about physical infrastructure-it's about fostering a mindset that embraces walking, cycling, and public transport as primary options, not just alternatives to cars. True progress will come when the perception of convenience is redefined to prioritize people over vehicles. The next phase isn't just infrastructural-it's societal.
No, seriously no. There will be close to no culture issues. You build the infrastructure well, and people will use it. People don't get snobby about transportation, they like it, they use it. It's that simple.
@@passerby4507 As someone who live in Vietnam whose capital city just got their second metro line ever and 30% people there simply dropped their mopeds for the trains, yeah.
Now when is your train usable here in Hồ Chí Minh City, Japan? *sigh*
Some things can be improved with infrastructure for sure, but other things will be more difficult. For example, Taiwan's ridiculously hot and humid climate means that typically, 10 minutes on a bicycle will leave you soaked in sweat during the hotter months (which is about 8 months of the year), which disincentivizes riding.
@@passerby4507 As long as public transport isn't everywhere, it is politically impossible to make licenses harder to earn.
I mean there was a court case that goes to the constitutional court because a professional driver think that withholding his driving license infringes his right to work...
@@passerby4507 Well, surely no mindset is ever gonna change if we keep building without restricting motor vehicles it is ridiculous how much emphasis has been given into cars and mopeds and culture will ultimately never change enough if cars are so much spread out and encouraged even while they are not convenient and this is the other reason the trips taken in car friendly cities even in The Netherlands like Wageningen by bike are extremely low.
I would like to say to my fellow urbanists that Taiwan is still a great place to visit. I visited in June (god it was so hot and humid everyday) and aside from the road priority this video takes aim at, there's lots of things that make Taiwan much more urbanist and enjoyable than you'd expect.
Almost everywhere is easily accessible by public transport. It's very easy to travel around the entire country by trains (local train, fast train, HSR) and even to smaller towns by coach (like I did for SML and Alishan) and most cities are also very easy to travel around either on buses or metro (especially Taipei) although Tainan's buses were abysmal. All announcements across the whole country are given in at least Mandarin and English and in some areas Japanese, Hokkein and other local dialects as well. Cycling, while slowly improving on the west coast, is actually very popular on the east coast where cycling tourism is a big thing for smaller towns and it's much more common and seemingly safer (drivers respect cyclists here more and there's generally less traffic)
You can also find food, drinks and daily needs absolutely everywhere. There are night markets everywhere; every few hundred metres in the bigger cities and every town seems to have one and the offerings are very fast, affordable and tasty. Every street seems to have at least 1 convenience store which stock everything you'd need. There's bubble tea shops everywhere which is actually a heavenly sight when it's at least 30c and 100% humidity everyday in summer and they're also very cheap; just ask for the lowest sugar content if you're worried about that. And at every destination you can always find a trusty vending machine (just be aware some only take coins and they aren't always chilled).
In terms of built and non-built environment, Taiwan is also a great place for hiking with so many beautiful mountains and many are easily accessible by public transport close to the cities. There's lots of parks and trees in cities which was unexpected and while there is urban sprawl, it's not single family homes with lawns, it's actually dense, mixed use neighbourhoods interspersed with parks. And the people are some of the friendliest I've ever met, even with my broken Mandarin (the younger generations seemed to have basic English skills though)
Of course, my experience is not going to echo everyone's and it's very different to the local perspective (I expect some people will disagree with some of my observations) but overall I highly recommend Taiwan as a place to visit even if the road situation isn't great.
As an urbanist, traffic safety advocate, and long-time fan of this channel who happens to live down the alley at 7:05 , I absolutely love this video! Please talk about Taiwan more!
btw, shout out to the perfect pronunciation of "Zonghe"👍
The first time I have ever seen a person passed in person other than my old relatives in hospitals or homes, was on the street in Taipei. A young girl, who was around my age, was hit by a garbage truck and people surrounding her were screaming for an ambulance and her parents… while she was lifelessly lay down… My younger sibling was almost hit by a motorbike in Taipei and I remember how my mother was traumatized by the incident… We weren’t allow to walk too far and always driven around by a professional driver.
I hope Taipei will have much safer traffic because there were so many nice places to visit and enjoy.
Professional drivers are the worst drivers in Taiwan 😂.
I've been lucky enough to not watch any deaths. Also lucky to not being hit. I had a few close calls though, and I'm almost paranoid while crossing roads or walking when no good enough sidewalks, which is most of the time.
@@Membrillo81 The driver was hired by a large multinational corporation and he drove a car provided by the corporation, so they were safe rides.
In short, yes. I will concede that since the "living hell" article, there has been a noticeable shift in driver behaviour. However, my sample size is n=1 and I'm an especially militant pedestrian, so my experience may not be reliable. Right now the major problems are:
1. Private vehicle size is getting ever bigger (thanks, USA), so visibility both ways is very poor and narrow side roads (with, of course, on-road parking) are cramped.
2. On-road parking is everywhere, making the side roads hot and narrow.
3. Pavement parking is endemic, especially mopeds and parents. There's a kindergarten round the corner from me where parents consistently park half on the pavement of a one-lane slip road, round a bend with a temple, at the bottom of a hill. All in sight of a cheap car park 10 m away.
4. There's zero public understanding of or police enforcement around sight lines. People habitually park on bends, at the foot of hills, on corners, even across the mouth of a road.
5. Police enforcement is non-existent. Drivers will run red lights and otherwise drive dangerously directly in front of the police. There WAS a change after the new law. It lasted a couple of weeks and then driver pushback led to a U-turn. In fact, the MOTC took away an online complaint channel (b/c it was overused lol), so there is currently no way to report traffic offenses except by calling the police directly.
6. Bikes are now ubiquitous. Woo-hoo. But in the hierarchical, might-makes-right environment of Taiwanese streets, that just means there's a new type of driver pushing around pedestrians. The worst thing is when the municipal govt takes an existing footpath, like the one by Danshui, and paints lines on it dividing it into a narrow cycle lane and a narrower pedestrian lane. Basically, they took a free, safe space for pedestrians and turned it into just another type of road. And wherever bikes can go, mopeds will go too (b/c this is TW). I used to cycle ten years ago. Not anymore. My nervous system just can't handle the constant stress hormones.
7. Everything is worse in the suburbs. The city centre is actually a pretty law-abiding place by comparison with the burbs, which basically exist as stops on the daily commute. Every biggish back street has turned into a rat run teeming with the latest SUVs and matte black Land Rover Defenders (🤮), and the main streets are particularly dangerous in the very early morning. Dawn run, anyone?
For the last year or so I've been carrying a flashlight whenever I walk at night and it's made a big difference. For some reason, zebra crossings here are unlit... 🤷🏽♂
In terms of pedestrian safety, I think Thailand may the worst. I worked there for 9 months cycling to get around and it was absolutely terrifying every time I went outside. Stray dogs chasing you everywhere, drivers with no licenses, a mix of tiny mopeds and huge pick up trucks, and little to no pedestrian walkways or cycle paths in my city. Add to that the intense heat and humidity as well as heavy rains during monsoon season and you have a recipe for disaster.
What's worse is our school was a bit out the city past a large major junction, from what I heard from the older teachers at my school every year they'd have a couple students die in motorbike crashes because the roads were so bad and it didn't surprise me at all. Everyone there had a story.
I see your Thailand and raise you a Vietnam. Although as a pedestrian I have ended up on someone's bonnet in Hua Hin, I used to drive in Hanoi and it's on another level.
Same situation in Metro Manila
@@bugsygoo In my experience, the traffic in Thailand is more dangerous as it moves, the traffic in Hà Nội is manageable as a pedestrian as it is standing still. In Móng Cái the situation is acceptable.
@@apveening I was thinking more about driving. I have only ever visited Thailand (many times), but I lived in Hanoi. But I do know that being a pedestrian in Hanoi is sketchy at best, especially because there are basically no footpaths in the old town. The amount of times I was hit by mopeds while walking 😠 but I was never hit by a car as a pedestrian... only when driving.
India.
japan would absolutely anthropomorphise a skyscraper damping system *and* they'd make a mascot out of it who would get famous on twitter by being rad as hell
The Taipei 101 damper IS a mascot lol. You can buy damper merch in souvenir shops and they are adorable
Correct me if I'm wrong but as far as I know the reason that metro exits are often along big streets, is because the metro lines also run under those big streets as that ground is already property of the city. Whereas if you run under buildings you have to buy that underground space and it's also harder to reach for construction. Ofcourse there's still plenty of options to make the exits nicer than just popping you out along a big stroad, but it's something to keep in mind
Netherlands? Taiwan? Semiconductor industry? Now it all makes sense!!
We are asking for policy exports from the Dutch! Wink wink, the Taiwanese government just sent a group here not that long ago for mobility policies.
He probably worked for ASML for a while, is my guess, although it took this comment for me to put A + B + external knowledge C together
You know too much!
(Drawing suppressed pistol )
Kidnapped by Kim Jong Un
lol and went to school in Fake London. Surprised it wasn't Waterloo!
Living here, you touched on my main concern, too. When I moved here, I sold my car, and I was excited to be able to be in such a walkable country. That was one of the biggest draws for me coming here from Upstate New York. After living here for not even a month, I had two traffic accidents while riding bikes to work. Being almost run over by cars at every major intersection in Central Taiwan was such a culture shock for me. There's still so much driver entitlement. Eventually, I did move up north, which many praise as safer. Yet, living up north is a similar situation. There are many dangerous cars/mopeds and the vehicles go quite fast on turns. The walkability is still very good, but the lack of sidewalks is very concerning. As I've adjusted and become more used to the driving culture. I have adapted, but it's definitely still scary. Every time I go out, I only want to be on the BUS, MRT, or the train, but mainly the bike and walking. Everything else is just so dangerous! Even taking taxis, it is still a terrifying experience. Thank you so much for this coverage.
@@ekenejae I thought that NY has great public transportation and is walkable.. especially in comparison with other US cities..
@@xcchrist8161he said upstate New York. It's basically a different state.
@@bldontmatter5319 Ohh I didn't know that. I m not from USA Thanks for the clarification.
Not Just Bikes is single-handedly improving lives all over the world
As a somewhat frequent visitor to Taipei (living in Hong Kong), one of the worst "features" IMO is that cars have a "free right turn", even when the pedestrian crossing is green.
Maybe I am used to HK, so a green pedestrian crossing means safe (of course, even then I still check), but in Taipei you have a green crossing, and you still see cars coming right at you, which kind of becomes a game of timing - even though you have the right of way, drivers will keep turning thinking you will take time (I am not 100% sure if this is legal or not).
As someone tall who walks fast, I often had this problem where drivers would not expect me to be at a certain point at a certain time and would just make the turns, forcing me to take evasive measures (slow down / stop).
I really enjoy that when your videos come out they're a good length with good content 👍
The problem with Taiwanese infrastructure is that we are very, VERY BAD at space management. Unlike the Japanese, the designs can be alright but the result is often the most inconsistent things you'll see. The integration for these decision making processes is almost non existent, plus there's a huge gap between people's needs all around the neighborhood. All these along with the lack of centralized/nationalized planning/laws, it is very hard for us to even realize what was possible.
The infrastructure is hideous to look at, too.
@@Janpan69You don't like metal-panel footbridges painted puce and atomic green?
Though give it a few years before the Taiwanese administration runs out of space on the island
I love these international videos so much, I’m all for the NJB world tour 😤😤😤
In my country Thailand, the car dependency is more important than the public transport infrastructures, so that's why motorcycle is everywhere. I really don't want to ride this thing on the road that has many chaotic motorcyclist are around me and super dangerous speedy car on the road but we have no choice. Cycling here is terrible and even sidewalks are super unsafety. Some people might say "It's not worth to build those infrastructures because people are not gonna use" but is it worth to let people use these dangerous roads and get an accident, it's absolutely not right? It's just kind a sad that our government doesn't support any kind of the thing that is safe.
This video made me very happy for multiple reasons, thank you for your content.
I would like to add an aspect that I noticed while driving in Taipei at night. Many cars have tinted windows even on the windshield, making it even harder to see while driving. Add some rain and you really have to be lucky.
As for cycling, I did enjoy it, especially cycling by the river. When it comes to using your bicycle next to the scooters...well, i would just be quite fast, and then they do allow you more space and treat as an equal. Almost got knocked over twice by buses, those drivers are crazy.
On the bus, make sure you hold on. I warned you.
Haven't tried scooters yet, but it's on my list.
The Metro is quite good, easy access even with a buggy, the only thing is quite a lot of people are using the elevator, so you have to wait quite long. Many of those people could have easily take the escalator...I don't see the logic.
Driving on the East Coast...that's a different story...
Overall, Taiwan is one of my favorite countries from many points of view: people, food, nature and I recommend everyone to visit and support this democratic country!
7:56 Singapore does have a very similar sidewalk design to have you covered from rainfall and sunlight. Very neat and thoughtful!
I was in Tainan for 11 months and just want to say... The vertical drops in the sidewalk are real and that example was *tame*. Some down south eclipsed a foot / 30+ cm. I distinctly remember a pair of them, back to back, one had asphalt piled like a slimeball as a sort of "stair" in one corner, and the next, to similarly provide a stair, had a *brick*.
I lived in Tainan for many years. I noticed most local people just walk on the side of the road because its so much easier than walking on the sidewalk under the building. I often see tourists, probably from Taipei, try to walk on the sidewalk and had to go in and out of the building just to avoid all the obstacles on the sidewalk.
@@TaiwanWorker Yeah, there were some spots that were just impassable without going on the side of the road, but, as an American, I was largely uncomfortable being *that close* to traffic a lot of the time, so I'd take the sidewalk when possible
I'm a native college student in Taiwan. I once nearly got hit by a car when walking on the crossing, the driver was pushing aggressively as if he's on a rush or something.
Some problems about the traffic in Taiwan are related to the drivers themselves, not the traffic designs or so. We've seen too many cases in which a reckless driver think they have the absolute right of way and driving like a maniac. Indeed, the traffic here is improving, but we still need more improvements.
I'm glad that you pointed out the changes and the problems here, hope we can see a better Taiwan in the near future.
I'm so glad you've made a video about Taipei. As you probably know, this video is going to end up all over the news here and hopefully it will give another huge boost to the urbanism movement locally.
it’s crazy cuz as somebody from the Philippines who flies to Taiwan frequently, it already felt like a pedestrian paradise 😅. I am aware of the fast driving and wide roads but the streets felt safe nonetheless (at least compared to Manila). I do notice something quite common were cars parked on the side “very quickly” to buy something from a store nearby.
German here, with 25 years spent in Asia, but only three months in Taipei. I'm a car lover, but even more a lover of urban public transport systems. First, a big thumbs-up for the accuracy and density of the facts you presented(, and incidentally also for the professional editing). I agree with most of your observations. I also enjoyed walking through the neighborhood lanes bustling with local life. The importance of individual car traffic is absolutely exaggerated. Supporting bike and scooter traffic will be unavoidable, as you rightly said. I would add three remarks there, though:
1. As a matter of fact, the internal combustion engine technology of the scooters is part of the "living hell" problem, not of the solution. Smog and noise pollution at the intersections is unbearable. So, electrification is an urgent necessity. Shanghai, for once, could serve as an example how to do it.
2. Geomorphology needs be taken into account. Although Taipei's city center is mostly on even ground, the surrounding areas, including New Taipei City, are quite mountainous, which adds to their flavor, but makes them inaccessible for the average Taiwanese biker. Electric scooters might kill two birds with one stone here.
3. I would be very careful transferring the insights from Taipei lightheartedly to other cities, and particularly the countryside, of Taiwan. The situation there varies greatly, and from Japan I know that e.g. in the depopulating areas having individual car traffic available is an absolutely indispensable lifeline for the local communities. Average car usage even for social security recipients there is much higher than for millionaires in Tokyo...
It's the same thing here in South Korea. It saddens me so much to see a country as small and as dense as it is to follow the American way of CARS CARS CARS with wide streets in their new cities. Literally boggles my mind.
Yes! The towns outside of Seoul are so dreary and ugly, and the distribution of train stations is okay but not as good as it could be.
@@dtown313 Korean urban planning is asssss. We do have decent public transit but the carbrained nature of many Koreans is just sad.
@@dtown313 South Korea has a large automobile sector, so not only following “Americanized infrastructures,” but also the incentives to build automobile infrastructure for the sector. It just makes sense.
However, South Korea’s population is extremely concentrated around Seoul Metro area, so Seoul disparately needs massive public transportation networks, like in Tokyo + bike lanes + tram system, anything to relief the congestion. I didn’t know how dense the population in Seoul Metro (about twice as much of Tokyo-Yokohama Metro), its central government has tried to relocate to another place outside of Seoul. I hope in newer developments will have much more alternatives for transportation because automobile infrastructures are too expensive even for Americans now.
Japan had opportunity to built railway system while car is not common .
@@鄭心和 Well, actually Japan built railroads in Korean Peninsula before motorization, started in late 19th century, (Japanese businesses had a large presence in Korean Peninsula at least from 19th century). Japanese government had a plan to build a high speed railroad system there in early 20th century.
I’ve been living in Taipei for 5 years. There’s nothing I dislike more about this place than the traffic. Seeing your comparison of what the city used to look like a decade ago made me appreciate the changes a bit.
Your summary is right on pints. Cars still rule Taipei.
What you didn’t mention (or perhaps I’ve missed it) is that cars Taiwanese prefer are getting bigger and bigger. There’s a lot more SUVs on the roads than even 3 years ago. This is not good.
Taiwan mentioned 🇹🇼🇹🇼🇹🇼 I will admit I am more than used to Taiwan's traffic hell at this point but at least where I'm from (Kaohsiung) there's a certain charm associated with the roads. Not to downplay the deadly collisions and general air of recklessness, but from an urbanist standpoint it's still streets ahead compared to parts of North America...in Kaohsiung this is exemplified by the heavy presence of trams and bikes (at least in my district) and I think Taiwan as a whole is slowly but surely moving towards the right direction.
I've always wanted you to revisit Taiwan as a subject again and fantastic video as usual. Just wanted to also say I visited the Netherlands the other day because of your videos! How surreal...
@@kermodii4978 streets ahead lol
Streets ahead lol
I remember the Kaohsiung university where my buddy stayed was up in the hills, so big props to any students riding a bicycle around up there.
Im legally blind and have bad balance but also love a good walk around my area. Those big lips of hight change in the old sidewalks would be quite scary for me. I would be rotating tripping and getting jabbed by my white cane in the hip when it hits them. Im so happy they smoothed them out but also made it a different texture than the side walks around it so low vision people can feel the ramp and know the level will change. This must prevent so many catastrophic falls and ofc less bruised hips for cane users. I wish Montréal where I call home could fix its uneaven and add shade covers like this too, not having sore eyes from the sun sounds dreamy
7:53 Actually this design is not only in Taiwan, it is also common in most Southeast Asian cities that I visited. The pedestrian and the shop is sheltered from the scorching sun and rain. Mostly from the heat I guess because the heat can goes up to more than 40°C in the hottest day + humid + no to little wind! Just a minute out in the sun then you will become a well done steak. Also many street in cities in SEA also livelier at night because the weather permitted to walk longer distance as you already mentioned night weather is significantly cooler than the day they rarely exceed 30°C in the hottest night from my experience. While during the day the heat make it unbearable to walk even for 15 minutes. I guess that is why scooter is more popular than bike cause it can travel faster and therefore escape from the heat faster and doesn't need to constantly pedaling that make you feel more exhausted and hot. It is also popular partly because it can reach speed similar to car in the city but it is cheaper to buy, run, and mantain the minus is no climate control.
Truly the SEA illustrated at far East
The general trend I see with NJB videos and many others is that people are still wrapping their minds around the idea that we need to reduce car usage. But it is happening. Everywhere in the world we see solutions to improve the layout and design of cities, even if they are not perfect or plainly bad ones.
as someone who lived in taipei for five years but grew up in america, i would still pick taiwan every single time. in my opinion, the majority of the roads are not that bad in taipei and much more walkable compared to america.
Taipei has bad pedestrian infrastructure.
America has no pedestrian infrastructure.
It's the only comparison I can make.
I live in Malaysia and always been experience "living hell" in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It's a highway hell of the country, despite the only place in the country with multiple train line. 22.5 road death per 100k inhabitants in 2019. Riding bicycle there is generally unsafe. You not only have to look out for car, but the motorcyclist as well, same issue with Taiwan.
As a Malaysian, I was amazed at how pedestrian friendly Taiwanese cities were lmao
We need some more videos regarding Asia and their infrastructure. Forget Dutch, the Chinese roads I saw were so accessible to all types of people, it’s crazy how much thought was put into it
As a European living in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, I can only confirm all of this. I feel afraid to walk on the sidewalk and have developed habits I didn’t have before, such as checking before slightly changing direction while walking on the SIDEWALK, developed a survival instinct. I enjoy walking and avoiding public transport, and for this reason, I think the issue addressed in the video is one of Taiwan's biggest flaws, unfortunately...
Taiwanese here. There are several car manufacturers and many related industries in Taiwan (usually owned by foreign company), i guess government needs to make sure that people buy cars (or related workers might lose jobs and companies would leave), so they have to keep the road as wide as possible ( to accommodate more cars) . Also i think that's the reason why government keep putting off "normalizing" the standard of obtaining driving licence.
I lived in Taiwan for a few months in 2022. Coming from perspective of an Indonesian who used to live in much much worse street hell, I am impressed with Taipei City. Despite many drawbacks, I still enjoy living in Taipei with its metros, YouBike bikeshares, pedestrian areas, shophouses, and night markets.
My biggest concerns are parked mopeds taking away pedestrian space, as well as dangerous driving behaviour of Taiwanese motorists. Biking in places without bike lanes gave me dilemma as well. Biking in roads is too dangerous, while biking in sidewalks means that I'll become the danger for the pedestrians.
Walkable cities aren't built overnight. It will take decades to construct infrastructures, curb automobile usages, and change the mobility culture of the people. I believe that Taipei City is still halfway towards there, although other cities like Taichung & Hsinchu are still lagging behind. All they need is the consistency and dedication in political will in order to keep moving towards the right direction. Cutting incentives from cars & mopeds might push motorists towards taking public transport.
Having that political will means you have to do everything in 4 years.
18:50 I've heard this is a problem in Britain. Britain does so few dedicated infrastructure projects that they are so puzzled at how places like Germany can build things cheaper than Britain can. I imagine the answer is to continually build stuff, rather than the impulse buying Britain has a habot of doing like with HS2 and stuff.
@@pearceburns2787 Honestly that makes a lot of sense, and reminds me of similar things the channel Perun always says about defence industrial capacity; you have to keep production flowing even when it's not strictly necessary, otherwise you need to rebuild that production from scratch when you _do_ need it.
hmmm alot of construction nowadays is delayed and overbudget.
My local station was meant to get it's old platform back up and running with new footbridge by last year, It only opened this year..
And thats quite a small project just getting a old platform at a station up and running again biggest thing was footbridge and new roof.
German here. There indeednare projects going on like Stuttgart 21, but not in every city they are developing the infrastructure. Berlin, Munich aso. are exceptions to the country, like London to the UK. Ever since Merkel left though, the new government is finally throwing money at the rail infrastructure, and some cities (usually dependent on local politics) have started to experiment with better city design and optimizations.
Britain innovated the whole idea to an industrial scale too, then just meh stopped bothering. Now the same people who say they want to get back to the roots ignore those good things and are just totally mislead xD
Re some construction delayed: not always e.g. Queensferry Crossing was close to budget and what a few months late due to extreme weather it still closes during anyway. Going overbudget is also sort of normal, because they are so long term and the cost itself isn't actually known until a few months before each section; if they don't go overbudget it means the government definitely overspent a lot or deemed that overspend worthwhile ideally.
Are you sure? All infrastructure projects tend to go way over budget. For example: erlin Brandenburg airport was supposed to cost plm € 2.8 billion, and in the end cost € 6.5 billion (and probably more). Amsterdam metro (North-south line) planned costs: € 1,5 billion, real cost € 3,1 billion.
Having visited both Taipei and Kaohsiung many times over the past decade or so, I can definitely say that there is progress with bike and pedestrian safety.
The problem, as you stated in the video, is that Taiwan is still car centric in terms of mindset. In Taipei, thats changing, but in other cities like Kaohsiung, it really hasn’t. Kaohsiung has a small metro system consisting of subways and light rail/trams. But other than that, everything is car prioritized. The streets are extremely wide in some areas and have heavy congestion with the mopeds. I have yet to see proper bike lanes there and improved sidewalks (which have crazy drops and sometimes even steps instead of a bumpy ramp).
In fact, the streets are so wide that my grandparents who live in Kaohsiung said that people in Taipei are impressed by them, and say how it’s so nice and beautiful to have such wide roads. It shows the car mindset is still very much engrained in the general public, and that needs to be changed in order for better safety within these transportation options.
I used to live in Tokyo and visited Taipei a few years ago. What annoyed me the most about the streets of Taipei is the pollution that gave me a headache after a few minutes. This has never happened to me in Japanese cities or anywhere in Europe. I understand that with the hot and humid climate a lot of people prefer to use mopeds than bicycles. I used to cycle to work in Tokyo and in summer it is just impossible to get to the office without arriving all sweaty. If the Taiwanese want to keep their mopeds it would be a good idea to ban petrol engines and have only electric mopeds. That would be a huge improvement for the street noise and pollution
I had a similiar experience when visiting Taiwan after visiting Japan, being completely spoiled by Japan, walking was just so much worse in Taiwan due to the traffic and the ridiculous noise levels. It's probably better to visit the these countries the other way around haha
I can't wait for the Mopeds to get electrified. I was recently in Chengdu (incredibly interesting city) where almost all mopeds and around 50% of the cars were electric, and the difference was like night and day.
You made a good point about Metro exits that don’t go out on a busy street. In Warsaw it’s done quite well, about 50% of metro stations have some sort of exit that is clearly intended for end-of-route foot travel. My favourite is the chain of underground-to-overground ramps that go tens of metres into neighbourhoods before becoming level with the ground. Best examples on Metro Służew and Meto Imielin. Also in the southern part there are two stations - Metro Stokłosy and Metro Ursynów - that actually connect with roads that run through areas with lower ground, directly from the ticket gate level onto the pedestrianised street.
I've been to Warsaw once and I already was reminded of that.
@@apveening It’s really not something you think about until you miss it.
@@emberthecatgirl8796 True
What amazes me is NJB can find his footage from 13 years ago.
i love how, me as a malaysian that just came here study for a week(where the pedestrian situation is million times worse) just complimented about the pedestrian condition here, and this video just showed up on my feed.
*Some notes on the speed limiting of scooters and mopeds*:
•Their unsprung weight from mounting the engine on the back wheel's suspension makes them a rough ride at high speeds. Banning suspension systems on scooters and mopeds altogether can limit their speed.
•Their short wheelbase makes them unstable at high speeds. Making a legal limit on wheelbase and steering geometry can limit their speed.
•Their small tire diameter makes them less stable and much rougher to ride at high speeds. Putting a legal limit on scooter/moped tire diameter can limit their speed.
Electronic speed limiters are easy to remove and conceal. Changing the scooter's tires and geometry is very visible.
Limiting engine sizes only limits the maximum load, not the speed.
as a taiwanese myself, i love that this video pointed out a lot of problems in Taiwan precisely and giving a lot of constructive solutions, probably because you used to live in Taiwan
Taiwan's traffic has get significantly better i must say, but it's still below average in my opinion
there are still a lot ridiculous drivers that still "stuck in the past" and doing ridiculous things and it's still fairly common
The traffic situation is still not good
8:05 fun fact. In the very centre of Ljubljana Slovenia, they have enclosed such space covered by buildings (after they've been like that for almost a century) because the building owners realized that they can rent more space to the shops this way. Thus pedestrians have about 3m less space and no cover from rain or sun. Yay for capitalism
Yeah no other political system would allow things to happen to buildings you don't like
@@oldoddjobslol cope more, it's uncontrolled capitalism that lead to this mostly
It's cyber punkin time (without the visual to remind you)
This is very common in Taiwan too, as there is extremely lax enforcement. Taipei made an effort to clear and level the walkways but other cities have not.
Did you see that uh, board at 23:28? Lmaoo 😂😂
It’s progressive I guess…
Omg I just noticed that too lol
Bruhhhh 😂
immediately scrolled down to the comments after seeing that xD
I originally saw this in the Nebula video and wanted to point it out to someone so bad because it's hilarious ... but nebula doesn't have comments 😅
The bad parts remind me of Manila.
It has been a few years since I visited, but I still remember it as the least walkable city I have ever been to.
I heard it is very slowly improving.
Hey, just wanted to point something out. I like your channel and your podcast very much and your style and history of living is very fascinating to me and tbh you sensitized me for the urbanism movement (although my thinking was the same beforehand of cause, just without the knowledge that there's a community this brought behind all of this). Especially in the Agenda podcast you promote Nebula, but I'm always hesitant to watch the videos over there. I of cause have a Nebula subscription and follow you over there, but I feel the audience on Nebula is mostly of a certain mindset - "preselected" and doesn't need convincing anymore. And bc I only found your channel and the connected network via the almighty algorithm I returned to watching your videos on YT. I sincerely hope that you still get the fair share of my nebula subscription though me following your channel but I feel it serves a better purpose watching on YT.
As a Taiwanese, I must mention something misunderstood in this video. "Mopeds" in this video are actually considered as motorcycles by most Taiwanese because you need 普通重型機車駕照( offical name " Ordinary Heavy Motorcycle Licence") to ride and this licence is basically equivalent as A1 licence in European countries(up to 249 cc). Second, Taiwanese are NOT ALLOWED ride their motorcycles on road with 禁行機車("motorcycles prohibited"). "motorcycles prohibited"s usually appear on bridges, inner lane of major roads, and ALL part of national freeways( similar as Autosnelweg in Nederland, Autobahn in Germany) despite the fact that most motorcycles are capable to go over 60 km/hr. If you want go to Xinyin from Zhonghe or vice versa, you"ll have to cross rivers and ride on EXTREMELLY DANGEROUS motorcycle lane on a bridge. motorcycle lane are so small that even 2 metre width ambulance can not go through to save riders if traffic accidents occur. However, if you ride "heavy motorcycles"( motorcycles with engine displacement over 250 cc), then you are prohibited to use ANY motorcyc lanes regardless of your wish. except for freeways which NO MOTORCYCLES (regardless of engine displacement de facto) are allowed on freeways. Hook turn are mandatory for motorcycles with engine displacement below 250cc, and prohibited for motorcycles over 250cc. The strange traffic rules are due to motorcycles with engine displacement over 250cc have to follow "car" regulations unless specific indicated. It is not easy for foreigneers to understand traffic issues and road crises in Taiwan. But I personally agree many points in this video to make Taiwan a better place : )
They are motor scooters. Motorcycles have a chain, which turns the back wheel. Motor scooters have direct drive engines turning the back wheel without a chain, allowing drivers to knock their knees in front of them. Mopeds have pedals and engines (they are powered by a combination of a motor pulling the chain and the foot-powered pedals.) Since mopeds traditionally had the smallest engines, the smallest engine vehicles were given "moped-class licenses." That led to people calling small motor scooters mopeds.
@@JonathanRBarnard Taiwanese licensing doesn't even distinguish between manual and automatic transmission, at least for "white plate" motorcycles.
By the way most scooters sold in Taiwan uses CVT, making them technically motorcycles.
@@JonathanRBarnard The definitions of vehicle types aren't set in stone, they vary depending on legislation. For example, there is no requirement for mopeds to have pedals in Sweden, which is where the word moped comes from.
16:41 i feel like having electric mopeds instead of petrol mopeds would make things quite a bit better, st least noise wise. (This is what lower tier cities in China do)
Yeah, we have those too. The Gogoro units are great, except... they're so quiet that you can easily be run down and never hear them coming.
I saw quite a few electric mopeds but I think the issue is the lack of charging infrastructure around cities still. Gogoro is pretty neat in that they have a battery replacement service though
Tak
@@MsKateC2K My parents hometown in china runs off of those, and they have charging infrastructure everywhere. Anywhere with a 240V outlet is a place you can charge our electric moped.
It's really cool to see Taipei from your perspective! Sometimes I abstract your videos as if they exist in an alternate plane; but seeing them in places I've lived in is eye-opening. It makes me feel like real change is possible, even for me. As an American living in Taiwan for five years, I thought it was way better than the US, but I agree it has so much further to go.
Also, if you ever get a chance, I'd love to see your take on Tainan, or god forbid Yunlin (Douliu is AWFUL). Literally this WEEK I was walking in a tiny street as a white mercedes with tinted windows swerved in going at least 40km/hr, getting so close to me -- I went to flip them off but they'd already zoomed away. I love Taiwan but it's really scary even walking around. And the pedestrain deaths! Last year a little girl was run over by a car so close to where I live. And someone else was run over at my university just recently. It's really scary! (Though I still think the US is scarier)
I speak Japanese, and even though I don't speak Taiwanese, I could recognize some of the symbols and guess what they meant. For example, I was able to guess that 人行道 means "sidewalk" because the symbols mean "person" + "go" + "path." In Japanese, sidewalk is 歩道, "walk" + "path."
仍然是，絕對是
如果你在一些停讓行人的新聞影片下留言處還是可以找出一堆批評停讓行人是爛規定的台灣人
他們沒有羞恥心，也沒有任何替別人生命著想的「善良」
甚至很多人看了影片還不知道車子是犯了哪條規定
而且台灣人有一個毛病，如果行人一樣的速度走在斑馬線上被撞，大家會罵車子
但是換成行人一樣的速度走在斑馬線上被撞，但當時他是看手機的，大家就會反罵行人
然後自動幫不讓行人的駕駛找各種行人不應該的罪行自然的脫罪了
基本上沒有法規的台灣駕駛非常多，全都是出自台灣駕照非常好考的源故
I know that cars are often the problem, but motorcycles, oh my God, motorcycles are even worse than cars here in Colombia. They are a real problem, to the point where people hate motorcycles more than cars.
It would be interesting if you could address the problems of motorcycles in cities or countries in a video.
I'm assuming its riders who change the exhaust of their bikes for better performance/sound. Most modern motorcycles are actually quiet from the factory. And then there's the riders (mainly sportbike riders) who think its fine to take the racing line and speed through the streets. Another thing is that some riders will ride up to 4000RPM or above compared to car drivers that rarely cross that.
Is there any country you're planning to visit?
I felt like you could touch on Poland's hit-or-miss bike infrastructure someday.
Hit or miss? Does that mean, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Or does that mean sometimes the cars hit, sometimes they miss?
@@ChrisSmith-bh2hg bit of both i'd assume
@@ChrisSmith-bh2hg mostly the first
@@mix3k818 Gdynia's city council is currently renovating the entire city at once it seems. they put down a new bike path... that ends abruptly in seemingly a random place and drops people on bikes onto the sidewalk. it doesn't seem that they plan to change it. gratulacje panie Szczurku
It depends on the city. Here, where I live, city centre was totally rebuilt last year. There are great bike lanes everywhere, almost no traffic lights (they were replaced by roundabouts). It's easier to drive a car too. I think the trend nowadays is to create bike lanes and infrastructure in case of rebuilding and renovating streets. People want this.
I stayed in Kaohsiung a couple of months and nearly every time I took a taxi the driver was on their phone. There was even a driver that was watching tiktoks
Probably the most important video you’ve made in a while, showing how even a notoriously bad place in fact one of the worst places can make changes even if they’re not the most substantial it shows that Taipei is not completely subservient to historical missteps.
This is so true, as a Dutchie with a Tainan wife I can only agree with you on this video. The example of the yellow lone & orange line is really true as well, this is not too far away from where my family in law lives, they have a kind of elevator short cut but this change takes unnecessary long because car trafic has a higher priority.
i watch your vids, crazy nobody recognized you
The "Baby's FirstTransit" reference at 19:25 was absolutely brillant!
The painted sidewalks at 5:00 are probably still there because a raised footpath would require moving all the drainage, which is far more expensive than installing the raised footpath.
I absolutely hate loud mopeds. I hope Taiwan will ban gasoline mopeds and replace them with electric ones.
They've been on the rise! One thing NJB didn't show is that within Taipei, there are tons of battery walls for electric mopeds! Unfortunately they won't alleviate the traffic problems, but they really helped with the air quality and some of the noise (tire on asphalt is still unfortunately loud)
I agree with the problems you mentioned in the video. Walking or cycling on Taiwan’s roads has always been challenging. Yes, some sidewalks have been renovated and larger ones have been constructed, but there just isn’t enough. The funny thing is, when walking on a sidewalk, pedestrians have to worry about being hit by a moped (this literally happened to me a couple of years ago, I got sent to the hospital right away). Taiwan’s been increasing the number of Youbikes, but the lack of proper bike lanes make it ridiculously hard to navigate in the city. Therefore, cyclists may meet with the dilemma of either cycling on the road and taking the risk of being hit by cars and mopeds, or cycling on the sidewalk and taking space away from the pedestrians. A friend of mine that has many years of experience in driving on Taiwan’s roads, told me that he’s noticed the decrease in driving skills in recent years. More and more ridiculous drivers are on the road and thus making the traffic more dangerous. Such as unexpected movement and lack of the use of signal lights. Taiwan’s traffic safety has been increasing over the years, but very slowly. Drivers need to be more careful and we should all respect the road boundaries. More importantly, the government needs to face the problem of overloaded mopeds and cars, and give pedestrians the freedom to walk safely.
Everything you've said just makes me think you'd like SIngapore.
✓ most side walks are at least 1 M unless they are single lane roads for residential or old areas / shophouses
✓ trees on sidewalks or recessed ground floor shops with covered walkways
✓ dedicated bus lanes (these are normal roads that have a different marking that are exclusively for busses during peak periods. Our busses have cameras so fines are issued if you stay on the lane for too long without turning or something)
✓ New metro (MRT) stations opening every other year
✓ car lite (compared to most asian, especially SEA countries)
✓ MRT stations exit to malls or covered walkways (those exiting next to a road have barriers)
the only difference is that the bicycle lanes are mostly only being built in residential areas so they are not very viable as a mode of daily transport, especially to work.
17:16 “Say the line NJB!”
Why in general, are people transformed into monsters as soon as they are part of traffic?
anonymity + power + no enforcement
3:31 Yay the ice cream van is here! Oh wait...
@@cern1999sb our ice cream vans play Greensleeves. I get hungry whenever it plays
Thanks for the shoutout to the Eglinton LRT, a meme generator unlike any other.