Text / Interview and report by Chen Guanxin, MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Life Network
With a 50-year history in Beitou, “Timely Delivery” offers services regardless of weather or holidays — including passenger transport, document delivery, bill payments (including “3:30 runs”), and roadside assistance when vehicles run out of gas. Local residents praise it as a helpful helper that “does everything except deliver babies,” and some operators also provide tours around Beitou’s famous attractions with brief introductionsservice,which takes about 30–40 minutes per trip and costs around NT$250 per ride, has become another unique experience in the Beitou area besides hot spring bathing.
Beitou’s unique motorcycle-based “Timely Delivery” service operates regardless of weather or holidays — just make a call and they’ll be there right away!
Currently, there are about 8 “Timely Delivery” operations in the Beitou area, some of which are open 24 hours. Since the first three digits of the phone numbers were the same in the early days, the last four digits are used as the shop name. Services include transporting local residents to bus stops, picking up and dropping off elementary and middle school students to and from school or after-school care centers for NT$40 per trip, and running errands such as shopping, paying bills, or making “3:30 bank runs” for NT$60. Shopping errands can include specific store requests, and multiple stops at different shops for a single delivery are also allowed.
Each shop has its own handmade directory of Beitou-area businesses for quick reference when taking customer orders.
According to Mr. Zhou, a driver at the “4288” shop, Timely Delivery can pick up fast food meals from chain restaurants immediately, not only reducing customers’ waiting time at home but also offering lower delivery fees than the chains themselves — a convenient and cost-effective option for small orders. During heavy rain or bad weather, the shops are flooded with calls. Because of the many affordable and convenient services they provide in daily life, they’ve become familiar and reliable helpers for locals. Women or students returning home late often choose to ride with Timely Delivery, and even wives going to hotels to “catch their husbands cheating” may ask drivers for assistance.
Whether it’s drinks or lunchboxes, just give the specified shop and item, and Timely Delivery will get it and deliver it to your door!
Since the drivers are very familiar with the locations of local attractions, many tourists wanting to experience zipping through Beitou’s alleys and lanes on Timely Delivery motorcycles will split into several vehicles and ask the drivers to act as local tour guides. In addition to visiting famous sights, the drivers also provide brief introductions to the attractions. A 30–40 minute trip costs around NT$250.
Each shop covers the motorcycle seats with waterproof sheets so passengers still have a dry seat even in the rain.
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