Taiwan Today

Ask Taipei drivers what can be done to solve the city's jammed traffic and the chances are good that the response will be: mei yu pan fa, "nothing can be done." But surely, something can be done to sort out the mess. How about computerized traffic lights, more buses, more parking lots to clear the streets, better-enforced traffic laws? The reply? "Mei yu pan fa; we've heard this before, and nothing ever happens. It's just the way it is." The attitude indicates a loss of faith in the government's ability to solve the urban traffic mess. Although several city mayors made the issue one of their highest priorities, their efforts were unsuccessful. During the first few weeks of each traffic campaign, there was some improvement, but the momentum was never sustained. A t best, the day of gridlock was delayed. Traffic remains a serious daily problem, and it is getting worse. It complicates going to and from work, and practically every other commuting activity that occurs between 6:30 A.M. and 12:00 midnight. The situation seems impossible; nothing can be done. Yet something is being done about traffic by a clear majority of city drivers. When Taipei drivers get behind the wheel, they become superbly creative in circumventing traffic laws in order to keep moving. While infractions such as running red lights and illegal turns occur in any city, in Taipei traffic violations have been raised to a kinetic art form. Unless traffic police are on the scene, expect cars to ignore a light change to red if they are anywhere near the intersection. At least a half-dozen vehicles, including cars, motorcycles, and city buses, will refuse to stop. Invariably, the last two or three get trapped in the intersection, temporarily delaying cross traffic. Stop lights get even less respect at night if cross traffic is light or non-existent. Why waste time? Illegal turns fall into many categories. The simplest violation is a simple disregard for no-turn signs. Others include going the wrong way down one-way streets, illegal U-turns (oftentimes using crosswalks), and tailing emergency vehicles through traffic. Why worry about the rules? Parking violations are no less common. Double-parked cars are everywhere, even in front of police stations. People stop as close as possible to their destination, even if it means parking in a driveway or on a sidewalk, ignoring parking places half a block away, or double parking outside an empty curb space. Why not park along the curb? Well, parking takes too much effort, especially for a brief stop. And if there is a meter, well, then you would have to pay! Why waste money? Such are the everyday sights on Taipei's streets, yet people cope with it all. Of course, there are still rules: Look both ways before jumping a red light. Never make an illegal turn if you have to run over a traffic policeman to complete it. Don't park in a public curb-side space if people in the shop or home it fronts have marked it with a chair or potted plant to indicate it is a "private" space –unless you want flat tires, a scratched paint job, or broken car windows. These representative examples illustrate a sobering fact: the traffic laws, no less than basic courtesies of the road, are generally ignored whenever drivers find them inconvenient. Laws are for everyone else. Considerable time and effort could be spent assessing who is to blame for this state of affairs. But it is more important to decide what can be done to correct it before bad driving habits and the growing number of vehicles on the road bring urban traffic to a grinding halt. Fortunately, there is an answer to the problem. The theory is presented in a famous essay by the ancient Chinese philosopher Han Fei Tzu, where he suggested the "two handles" of reward and punishment to rectify a society gone awry. He placed more emphasis on the second handle, punishment, and added thaI the certainty of punishment was at least as important as the degree of its severity. The theory has been translated into a modern model in Singapore, which has one of the most orderly traffic systems in Asia, if not the world. The government has demonstrated that nothing works better to regulate traffic than laws and fines rigidly enforced. The Singapore model for traffic control (and other accomplishments) is already being studied by ROC government officials, and at the highest levels. There is now reason for optimism about the possibility of seeing some order brought back to the streets. Yu pan fa; "something can be done." Strict and equitable enforcement is something everyone understands. And the timing is right. One of the goals of the six-year national development plan, recently inaugurated by Premier Hau Pei-tsun, calls for solving traffic problems and urban congestion. The immediate challenge is developing the delivery system. For example, hard decisions have to be made on limiting car ownership, requiring parking lots in high-rise buildings, increasing the number and salary of traffic police, upgrading the automobile insurance industry, and increasing the capacity of traffic courts. The task is complex, but expect rapid change if the fines are large enough, if there is a high degree of certainty that violators will be ticketed, if re peat offenders get their licenses revoked, and if people driving without licenses are thrown in jail. A city traffic slogan says, "Keep Taipei moving." It will, but only if the momentum of law enforcement picks up, and if it is sustained.