Do you actually read my posts? Or do you just cherry pick words in my posts?
these aren’t complaints. They’re what we call doing something about it instead of being old and bitter.
Great job twisting my words. I’m not complaining, i’m campaigning to create positive change and help my fellow foreigners relieve some of their suppression.
Please. Please please please. Improve your reading comprehension in regards to my posts before reading and replying to my posts. Take an English refresher maybe. It will help you understand the words I say.
Is there someone similar to the NCC for the financial sector to take complaints?
So if I say “scooters are shitty” that’s complaining, but when you run to the gubment to complain, it’s “campaigning to create positive change”.
Got it.
No offense, but you seem old and bitter. Reading your posts it seems TW has left you feeling disappointed, angry (“my blood is boiled”) and excluded.
Scooters suck and contribute to TW’s 3rd worldness. But I don’t care enough to run to the government to complain campaign for positive change because at the end of the day I’m as invested in TW as TW is invested in you and me. Read: not a whole lot.
That’s unfortunate you came to that conclusion based on cherrypicking posts and failed comprehension of my replies here. Or maybe those quotes are cherrypicked too hmmm?
Maybe read a bit more, might learn something, but I won’t hold my breath for someone with a history of cherrypicking to make a weak point.
But I genuinely appreciate you bringing to light the tireless work and activism I have done for foreigners here so we can all enjoy this wonderful country. I love Taiwan and it feels good to help people!
Last I checked, old and bitter people don’t tirelessly work to campaign for positive change, or is that another meaning not fully understood and now corrupted to serve your flimsy point? It is my fault for indulging in ‘no u’ arguments though.
If you actually want to see the real me instead of cherrypicked posts to fit a false narrative, you can meet me. I’ll buy you a beer. It’s on me.
It seems then the problem is the enforcement of proper driving/parking rules, not scooters per se. As much as scooter drivers usually piss me off with their reckless driving, I agree that having people switch to cars would be much worse. Can you imagine all those inconsiderate drivers in a larger and potentially more dangerous vehicle?
Enforcement is always the issue in TW and that’s not going to change.
Most of the scooter owners would not be buying cars. The taxes and import duties on cars would have to come way down, and even then, you’d still only be looking at a minority subset of scooter drivers who would have the ability and willingness to buy a car. The rest would be forced to walk more, use public transportation, taxis/Uber.
There are such a thing as car loans… That’s how most normal people buy cars.
Scooters should remain and public transit should be improved. Not banning things. The alternative should be better.
Then the markets find their niche.
Not just bikes has never advocated for the banning of cars/scooters/etc. Only reduction in egregious areas with improvements to road design and choice to spread people out between different forms of transportation to ensure smooth sailing for everyone.
If scooters are the better option, is that the scooter’s fault or is that an indication that public transport should be improved?
Well, I took this picture myself some time ago, so it might not be the best example or framed to portray my point the best, but it helps showcase the amount of space allocated for scooters’ parking, and compare it to Tokyo where this sight is, supposedly from my friend and my experience there, unheard of.
I mean if you look at the photo, there is not even a walkway for people to walk further ahead, but there is close to 100 meter parking for scooters.
When I walk through here I have to share the road with motor vehicles, which is not the safest or most comfortable feeling. Which is kinda the point we were talking here in this topic originally.
I think that there are alternatives to taking the scooter in Taipei, it’s just that taking the scooter is far too comfortable and faster, so it wins over the competition (public transportation, cycling, walking).
But of course the speed and comfort of scooters has a cost on the roads, public spaces, health, noise, stress of other people on other forms of transportation.
While better than cars, they are not an utopian form of transportation, specially in crowded cities.
I agree. But I’d rather make other forms of transport better and improve society than making a blanket ban and forcing people to what could be perceived as inferior, especially since we can’t take EVERY situation into account.
If you want to reduce scooter usage. Improve public transport.
I’m not claiming they are. I am arguing against a blanket ban. Everything else is on the table.
Yeah I don’t think blanket bans make sense.
After all I think it’s more about cycling & walking friendly design (which might imply removing parking spaces), improve public transportation.
How to pay for all this? Well, if you ask me all these combustion-powered vehicles don’t really pay much for their fuel (compared to Europe)
However if taiwan was to ever get serious about this, the reality is it needs to start taking better care of the elderly, handicap, injured etc first to allow for efficient transitions. Otherwise, again, its polical suicide. These points were laid out above and they really cannot be ignored. Stopping noise pollution via banning scooters affects 100 different sectors (probably 1000) immediately and millions of people directly. The costs would be in the hundreds of billions, if not trillions. Its worthwhile, but its not as easy as just saying no more scooters…
The Japanese are very polite drivers. Taiwan should implement 100% Japan’s driver’s ed (or Germany’s). Then send anyone who drives w/o a license to prison (because a lot of people here don’t even have licenses and many don’t learn to drive til they’re 50+)
I’m jealous that you don’t hear any road noise inside buildings, @BurgerKing!
In our apartment building I constantly hear road noise – especially farting scooters but also beeping trucks and buses (blinker beeps, backup beeps, etc. – trucks often even leave blinkers on when stopped at curb, emitting incessant loud beeps until the drivers finish their rest stop/delivery/etc.) and loud accelerating cars. (And of course sirens and horns too. And construction.) And that’s with all windows fully closed. I can’t hardly bear opening windows due to increase in noise level.
Yes, I could move to quieter location in or out of Taiwan. And/or spend $$$$$$ to redo all the windows. The point is the noise reaches unhealthy levels and impacts millions of people on daily basis. Even those who don’t notice or think it’s not a problem may be harmed physically and/or mentally by the noise, without being conscious of the fact. I’m for freedom so long as one person’s freedom to do as one wishes does not enable behavior that harms other people. Those on/in noisy vehicles should not be free to assault others with excessive noise. And there are objective measures of noise and standards regarding which level is reasonable, safe, harmful, etc.
My hope is that all citizens recognize that noise is harmful and is in fact pollution, noise can be reduced (and yes, without banning all vehicles). Just as air pollution in the past was viewed as simply a fact of life and now increasingly gets treated not as a given but as a problem to solve, so should noise pollution.
I can’t wait until the switch to electrification of scooters (and buses) is complete. The impact on our cities in terms of noise pollution will be incredible.
In the meantime, you’ll find me on a bicycle. If more of us did that, we’d have better cities.
If such dampeners would quiet down the vendors shouting to each other at nearby market every morning before the sun rises, often waking the kids (whose windows, also closed, are on the “quiet” side of the building), then I’d be for it also.
I do think many Taiwanese talk quietly. On average quieter than Americans, for example. But a small percentage are REALLY LOUD.
(compared to Europe)