Tricycles, Bicycles, Scooters and Jeepneys

[glypnir]

Well I just got back from a two week trip to Beijing, Manila, and Taipei.

It was interesting how the three cities handle their transportation.

First I want to make it clear that they all have superhighways that would be at home in the USA, with buses, trucks, and cars that could go on our roads with no problems. So I'm really focusing on what they have that we don't.

In Beijing, they've got lots of bicycles and tricycles. Sometimes the tricycles have little motors, and sometimes they bicycles are mopeds too. They have lots of bike lanes.

The tricycles often are real freight haulers, with sometimes what looks like 200 pounds or more of stuff on the back on a big kind of flatbed. Here's an extreme example that I found on the web.

 

[glypnir]

Well I just got back from a two week trip to Beijing, Manila, and Taipei.

It was interesting how the three cities handle their transportation.

First I want to make it clear that they all have superhighways that would be at home in the USA, with buses, trucks, and cars that could go on our roads with no problems. So I'm really focusing on what they have that we don't.

In Beijing, they've got lots of bicycles and tricycles. Sometimes the tricycles have little motors, and sometimes they bicycles are mopeds too. They have lots of bike lanes.

The tricycles often are real freight haulers, with sometimes what looks like 200 pounds or more of stuff on the back on a big kind of flatbed. Here's an extreme example that I found on the web.

 

[glypnir]

In Taipei, many people use scooters. Often these are people who can afford cars, but cannot afford parking downtown.

One guy that I visit there has two scooters, one to ride to work, and one to drive on trips into the countryside on weekends. He has a car too. And a bicycle. There are little scooter repair places all around, complete with little scooter lifts.

I even saw handicapped scooters this time. They take a normal scooter, and put twin training wheels - almost the same diameter as the rear wheel - on the back. This is apparently for people who can't use their legs to hold the scooter up..

I saw two, one with a wheelchair strapped to the side, one with crutches.

They even have designated scooter boxes at the stoplights. The scooters are encouraged to filter forward through the cars, and park right at the front of the queue.

Here is a picture I found on the web,

Here's a handicapped one:

 

[glypnir]

Then, in Manila, the signature vehicle is the Jeepney. Nowadays, many of them seemed to be made from stainless steel. And apparently they now use Isuzu diesel engines. There even appeared to be a company who manufactures Jeepneys.

Lots of other buses too. It looked like two of the four lanes of the EDSA frontage road were dedicated to buses, with cops stationed every few blocks to keep the cars out of those lanes. And lots and lots of buses.

 

[Heathen]

I've worked in Taipei and Kaohsiung and it is amazing what one sees on scooters in Taiwan. The most people on a scooter I saw was five. Once saw a butcher hauling a half a hog (split long ways) on the back. Also saw a painter carrying 5 gallons of paint, and extension ladder and step ladder. When I was there, scooter were limited to 250 cc's. Americans could import large bikes. Some of the people would take the bikes and make "choppers" out of them. They were interesting looking. I sort of blew them away when I showed them a pic of my KZ1300 I had at the time. I would have loved to had my bike there but one could only travel the back of the island on a bike. Bikes were prohibited on the main road from Taipei to Kaohsiung.

 

[Bassamatic]

Pretty cool, but it would take a long time to move if you had to do it one piece at a time.

Where are the Harley's?

 

[Lubbock Louie]

Heathen....welcome to the forum. I went to a Pork Festival once in Lexington. Lots of gteat BBQ. Beautiful country.

LL

 

[Heathen]

Thanks for the welcome Louie. I'm more of a reader than writer. That was a real compliment about the barbeque when it comes from a Texan. I was stationed in Texas for a while many years back and most people there didn't even recognize barbeque pork as a basic food group. Don't think I ever got any pork barbeque while I was there but ate a lot of beef barbeque and on occasion some young goat (I think). We still have our barbeque festival around the end of October so come on back and have some more. We have a winery now (built by Richard Childress) so you can even get a collector's bottle of fine "Swine Wine". It's actually called Swine Wine-gets a special label and everything for the festival.

 

[jun225]

Well I'm glad you made it home safe, buddy. News from the grape vine was you were carrying some serious weapons

Jun