The Taipei City Government has begun to replace busstop signs throughout the city.
The color scheme of the new signs, however, is a poor choice because white letters against a gray background offer little contrast, especially at night.
Here, for example, is are daytime and nighttime shots of the same stop, taken from different angles.
The stop is not lit well, so the nighttime photo had to be taken with a flash. So this photo, though the focus came out a little fuzzy, represents an improvement over what people would normally see at night.
Two weeks ago I wrote the Taipei City Government’s Department of Transportation for clarification about the policies associated with this signage but have not received an answer. Everyone I have spoken with in that office has been friendly; but the system is unfortunately still stuck in its ways.
At least InTerCaPiTaLiZaTion doesn’t seem to be in effect. And the new style for displaying bus routes does provide more information to those who cannot read Chinese characters.
(click for larger image)
I also saw some of the new signs on Keelung Road. However, the part of the sign which displayed the name was parallel to the road, not perpendicular like the one in the photo.
I also found a sign with quite peculiar use of Tongyong Pinyin. It was at the Xindian MRT Station. You can find a photo of it here. Perhaps this could be called tong-yong-pin-yin.