Parking is almost impossible to find in certain cities, but what incentive does the government have for changing the status quo? As things are, it is profitting from the situation by dishing out parking tickets left and right. What do you think?
Which cities? I’m only familiar with Taipei and Taichung and I never have a problem finding a parking space. :s
I remember when I started using a car here it was hellish, but that was about 10 years ago.
You want parking difficulties? Try Edinburgh! Parking in Taipei is a breeze.
Hisinchu. I can’t even get parking in front of my own apartment and I have a scooter.
That sounds like a real drag. They dish out tickets up here all the time too, but at least the city government has been very good IMO with regard to municipal car parks, plus there are hundreds of privately operated car parks dotted around.
I used to just park in small alley ways. Places where it is hard for tow trucks and police to get to. Never park on sidewalks or in front of buildings where there are redlines. I think the trick is not being lazy. I used to work around Taipei Main Station in mornings and finding a legal place to park my scooter was futile. I then realized that if I just rode 2 or 3 blocks away from that area there would tons of places to park. Yeah I had to walk 5 mins more to work, but I figure I save like 15 mins from not driving in circles waiting for someone to leave. Now, I just pay $600 a month for a place to park under my building. That $600 is well worth the money. So you have 3 options, park further away from a busy area and walk a bit, or pay for parking, or just take public transportation.
underlying problem:
for 60 years the entire island’s government, city planners and traffic departments have completely overlooked the fact that cars, at times, need to be parked 
… Houses and shop fronts end at curbside ie. the scooter lane… therefore scooter lane = scooter parking and/or shop sign placement zone, 1st car lane = car parking zone… last remaining lane if there is one = congestion and mayhem zone… this mind numbing incompetence in basic city planning generates the “I’ll park wherever the hell I please, f**k everyone else” mindset… this overwhelming mindset leads to the standard govt. response of “head in sand, problem solved”… the entire issue of where parking spaces and/or red lines should be and the appalling traffic meltdown is overlooked entirely under the “mei ban fa” clause of Taiwanese society…
incredibly simple solution:
the grandma’s who, island wide, already patrol the parking boxes in farmer/ninja outfits handing out hourly parking slips and updating them with relentless efficiency every hour are given govt./police parking tickets at NT$5000 per pop to hand out to anyone parked like an arse… traffic congestion, unnecessary use of cars and emissions all drop sharply and nobody parks like an idiot anymore under “losing money = sum of all fears” clause of Taiwanese society…
simple reason why this will never happen:
any legislator who passed a law that drags the peasants kicking and screaming out of their third world backwater mindset will, after having his office pelted with eggs, kiss his govt. expense account, Jaguar, job etc. goodbye at the very next election, under the “we demand to cling to our inept, backwards, village mentality upon pain of death” clause of Taiwanese society…
- as always this applies less to Taipei where caliber of citizenry is on average considerably higher than the “great unwashed” masses of the central and southern areas…
I’m pretty sure it’s Taipei’s policy to attempt to limit car ownership by actually reducing the number of public parking spaces available.
You can see in any country in the world, and not just the third world, that car ownership and use inevitably rises at a rate faster than the amount of road of parking space available. Building more just encourages more people to buy cars, and more to buy a second, and a third.
The only ‘stick’ policy I have ever seen work is that of certain Japanese cities where you must have a private parking space in order to buy a car. Sadly, this will never be implemented in Taiwan, for the reasons that Plasmatron mentions above.
There is of course another problem, that the ‘carrot’ strategy almost never works here. You can put as much public transport out there as you like and a large percentage of the population will ignore it, due to “I’ve got a car so that makes me better than you” mentality, or the “I’ve got a better car than you, and I can’t prove it to you when it’s parked at home” mentality.
Where’s bob?
Eh? Are you being serious here? There are new municipal car parks opening up all the time in Taipei. Parking that was such a headache 10 years ago is now pretty much problem-free. And at NT$20 or NT$30/hour – less if you use a yo-yo card – very cheap.
We must be talking about different Taipeis!
If they really wanted to limit the number of cars in Taipei, and Taiwan in general they would adopt policies like those in Singapore. In Singapore people need to get special permits to buy a car. You need to have a background check and all that. Unlike Taiwan where anyone who wants one can get one, regardless if they have a license, or a place to park it. It still amazes me that I can walk into any bike or car dealership, put down some money, give them my ARC, and in a few hours I can ride or drive away. No way that would happen back home. Even if you had the money and a license, you would still have to wait for an insurance company to agree to give you coverage before any dealership would allow you to purchase the car. Gotta love Taiwan.
[quote=“sandman”]
Eh? Are you being serious here?[/quote]Yes, though it’s possible I got hold of the wrong end of the stick, and it was an attempt to open up road space by cutting down on kerbside parking in favor of the parking lots.
Do you have parking lot projects being started now, or is what you’re seeing perhaps the fruit of a previous policy to create more space?
Yeah, they are trying to cut kerbside parking (a good thing IMO) but are offsetting this with more car parks. Judged by my personal ease of parking in the city these days, they’re doing an astoundingly good job.
As for new ones being started, I haven’t really paid much attention, but I know a new 700-space facility opened just a few weeks ago under a park near one of my offices.
I’m one of the biggest complainers around here – you know that – but on this score I can’t fault the city government. No matter, of course. They still have a multitude of irritating faults to keep me in a properly curmudgeonly state. 
[quote=“KawasakiRider”]If they really wanted to limit the number of cars in Taipei, and Taiwan in general they would adopt policies like those in Singapore. In Singapore people need to get special permits to buy a car. You need to have a background check and all that.
[/quote]Not only that, but there is a limited number of permits available, and they basically auction them to the highest bidder. That’s why you don’t see any crappy old cars in S’pore.
[quote=“KawasakiRider”]Even if you had the money and a license, you would still have to wait for an insurance company to agree to give you coverage before any dealership would allow you to purchase the car.[/quote]I thought you had to have insurance before you can get your license plates?
[quote=“plasmatron”]underlying problem:
for 60 years the entire island’s government, city planners and traffic departments have completely overlooked the fact that cars, at times, need to be parked … Houses and shop fronts end at curbside ie. the scooter lane… therefore scooter lane = scooter parking and/or shop sign placement zone, 1st car lane = car parking zone… last remaining lane if there is one = congestion and mayhem zone… this mind numbing incompetence in basic city planning generates the “I’ll park wherever the hell I please, f**k everyone else” mindset… this overwhelming mindset leads to the standard govt. response of “head in sand, problem solved”… the entire issue of where parking spaces and/or red lines should be and the appalling traffic meltdown is overlooked entirely under the “mei ban fa” clause of Taiwanese society…
incredibly simple solution:
the grandma’s who, island wide, already patrol the parking boxes in farmer/ninja outfits handing out hourly parking slips and updating them with relentless efficiency every hour are given govt./police parking tickets at NT$5000 per pop to hand out to anyone parked like an arse… traffic congestion, unnecessary use of cars and emissions all drop sharply and nobody parks like an idiot anymore under “losing money = sum of all fears” clause of Taiwanese society…
simple reason why this will never happen:
any legislator who passed a law that drags the peasants kicking and screaming out of their third world backwater mindset will, after having his office pelted with eggs, kiss his govt. expense account, Jaguar, job etc. goodbye at the very next election, under the “we demand to cling to our inept, backwards, village mentality upon pain of death” clause of Taiwanese society…
- as always this applies less to Taipei where caliber of citizenry is on average considerably higher than the “great unwashed” masses of the central and southern areas…
[/quote]
Great Post 
A new car park has been built near to my house in Yong He. It has been open for about 3 months now and is still relatively empty. This was built to ease the parking problem in the neighbouring streets.
However, rather than pay 1000-2000 NT per month for parking, they park in the spaces reserved for scooters.
When the scooters come home, they have no where to park. So the scooters park on red lines and by the morning, they have been towed.
The scooters pay the 1000 -2000NT fine that the cars should have paid for parking for a month.
Of course, the cars are never towed from the scooter spaces :fume:
^^^ Oh yeah, the ‘park free or die’ crowd. 
I still can’t understand all the people in my neighborhood who will pay over a million for a new car, and then leave it on a red line all night, every night. Surely the bill from towing alone will add up to more than the price of a parking space, let alone the scratch and dent There are plenty of spaces to rent around here. :loco:
Towed no, but I did inquire at the police station about how to resolve the problem (cars routinely park on the reserved scooter spaces in front of my door) and they said to give them a ring and they’d come over to ticket them.
I’ve called several times now, and sure 'nuf, tickets appear shortly. 
Speaking of which, does anyone have any idea how much those tickets are costing them?