Page 54 - An Overview of Penghu

XI Transportation

Marine transport

Transportation between Penghu and Taiwan was limited to the Kaijomaru (2,030 tons) sailing
regularly between Keelung, Magong, and Kaohsiung under the order form the Government-General of
Taiwan. The vessel was replaced by Ichizakimaru (about 1,800 tons) on April 1, 1932. The schedule
was modified from eight times a month between Magong and Kaohsiung to 15 times per month and the
vessel between Magong and Keelung was suspended. The ship will sail from Kaohsiung in the
morning to Magong, then return from Magong in the afternoon and arrive in Kaohsiung in the next
morning. There are no other ships to Penghu besides the one mentioned above and the Osaka
Commercial Vessel Incorporated's steamboat sailing between Kaohsiung and Yokohama, which docks
in Magong several times a month.

There has been a rise in the number of businesses using gasoline-powered vessels recently.
Large motorboats can also be frequently seen between Magong and Tainan, as well as Magong and
Kaohsiung. Although travel and shipments are on the rise, poor transportation in the Prefecture
remains an issue, especially transportation between Magong and Wangan (18 nautical miles), Wangan
and Dongji (12 nautical miles), Wangan and Huayu (12 nautical miles), Wangan and Dayu (11 nautical
miles), and Magong and Jibei (17 nautical miles). Besides patrol vessels of the police sailing there
three times a month, the only way to travel between those areas is via motorboats or junks (a type of
Chinese sailing ship) that sail without a fixed schedule.

Transport in spring and summer does not prove to be an issue, but when it comes to autumn and
winter, which are characterized by strong seasonal winds, transportation can be interrupted for up to a
month, as it becomes too difficult to sail small boats. Hence, the government should treat
transportation infrastructure and regular ships sailing between isles as important issues to cope with
first.

Land transport

Litters and bullock carts were the only means of transport on land until July 1927 when the
government allowed automobiles for business purposes. There are 13 vehicles in total in the
Prefecture, two for military use, three for the prefectural government, and seven for business use; the
remaining one is a private truck belonging to a civilian. While cars for commercial purposes became a
convenient means of transport for normal passengers, bullock carts remained the main way of
transporting freights.

Although roads in the Prefecture are narrow in general, cars can run on most of them, in addition
to some designated roads; this increases the risks of land transport. In contrast, roads on other isles of
the Prefecture were narrower than those of the main island, allowing only bullock carts to travel on.
Hence, the government needed to widen and improve roads.

Vigilante groups

The Prefecture consists of 107 Bao and 997 Jia (Bao refers to towns and villages, while Jia refers
to neighborhoods), which together assigned 538 men to form 20 vigilante groups. While members and
leaders of vigilante groups were less educated and lacked an understanding of their responsibilities,
they contributed a great deal to assisting local law enforcement in road maintenance, crime
investigations, disease prevention, and ship rescue after being trained over time.

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