上班族必備軟實力

[Richard enjoys the convenience of public transportation.]

Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) has made a huge impact on the quality of life in Taipei. Before the MRT, traffic was crazy and crowded. Now it is still crazy and crowded traffic, but it would probably be worse without the MRT. I can’t tell much difference. I think that bus lanes have had a more positive effect on the traffic than the MRT, but that is beside the point.

There are currently five lines, and each of them have their own personality. For example, the Blue line that goes to Ximen station will have many hip youngsters. They are dressed fashionably and provocatively. On the other hand, the Yellow line into Yonghe will have many elderly people yelling into their cell phones and carrying groceries. The Red line gets full of rowdy school kids shortly after 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The Brown line is for families and the Green line is full of people who don’t realize that they could have taken a shorter route.

Each line has a destination on the outskirts of the city. When they all come together north of the Main train station, they form a grid pattern over that part of the city. You can see that all this has been planned for a long time. In a few years there will be a great big ring around the city that will connect many of the lines on the outskirts.

Please don’t push. Thank you for reading.