During Chinese New Year, I had a rare and enjoyable opportunity to travel part of Taiwan with my parents. We spent time in Taipei, Nantou, and Kaohsiung. Taiwan has an abundance of trees and foliage that are gloriously wild, and the rivers and lakes are very clean and fresh. The people we met were friendly, helpful, and patient. But besides the people and natural beauty, the transportation system impressed me.Taiwan's well-organized transportation system, from the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), to the High Speed Rail (HSR), to the buses, allowed us to visit so many places over a short period of time. Without all of that, we may never have left Taipei.
I have always known that Taiwan is a technologically advanced country. But I never realized what a big difference combining technology with transportation could make in daily life. My family lives near San Francisco, California.San Francisco is a well-known city with many great sights, including Golden Gate Park, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge. But getting around is not always easy. San Francisco does not have an MRT like Taipei or Kaohsiung. It does not have a subway or underground system besides the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), which travels to Berkeley, a city located across the bay. BART can be used to get in and out of San Francisco but is not helpful for getting around inside the city. Also, BART has a reputation for being dirtyand inefficient since it only runs a few times each day.
Even the bus system in Taiwan, specifically inKinmen, is better than San Francisco's.There are many city buses in California, but I think the bus system in Kinmenis more prompt.San Francisco buses run on electricity or natural gas, which are better for the environment than diesel fuel, but the buses are not completely reliable.With San Francisco's many steep hills, it is easier to take a bus than to drive a car or motorcycle. Driving a car can be a problem not only because of challenging urban driving situations but also because of the lack of parking.
San Francisco is one of my favorite cities in the world because of its architectural beauty and colorful history. However, it is definitely more difficult to navigate thanmany Taiwanese cities. California hopes to fix this problem. The government has approved ahigh-speed rail that will go from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the trainis not scheduled to be completed until sometime between 2020 and 2030. It will take a long time and a lot of urban planning for my native city to be as efficient with transportation as similar cities in Taiwan. I hope that our engineers use Taiwan as an example because Taiwan's speed, competence, consistency, and customer service have made traveling here quite a treat.

『本專刊由<金門日報>編輯部與學術交流基金會(傅爾布萊特交換計畫/Fulbright Taiwan)共同策畫製作』