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There's nearly one registered scooter per adult in Taiwan (the motorcycle variety) and it's an excellent way to explore because (among other things) they are trivial to park almost anywhere, whereas car parking can sometimes be limiting and quite a challenge.

Electric scooters offer benefits to vacationers because they are extremely quiet, allowing one to enjoy rides in the countryside or near the ocean without the loudness of a gasoline engine, and because their power and responsiveness at start and low speed may be helpful in certain traffic situations in unfamiliar areas.

Rather than charging stations where you have to wait, some varieties have drive-by battery swap stations widely distributed; you can even reserve batteries on your phone so you'll be sure they're waiting for you.

I'm in Taiwan but don't have a drivers license myself. I may have visitors from the US and would like to help make their trip as fun as possible.

Recently I saw this advertisement video for one electric scooter company Gogoro, and these can be rented in some locations via GoShare https://www.ridegoshare.com/us/about-us but there are other electric scooter companies as well perhaps with other programs.

Question: Can visitors rent electric scooters (motorcycles) in Taiwan with foreign drivers licenses?

from "Why are there so many scooters in Taiwan?" https://davidwu1.medium.com/why-are-there-so-many-scooters-in-taiwan-15bbeb5c77e6

From Why are there so many scooters in Taiwan?

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    Your #1 problem will be getting into Taiwan as a foreign citizen. They’ll likely to stay shut for another few years due to “zero Covid” policies.
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Aug 28, 2021 at 2:52
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    @JonathanReez I think that can be a separate question. For even fully vaccinated and/or those wiling to do a quarantine hotel stay, I suppose visitors for reasons of tourism only may have to wait a while, but planning vacations can still be rewarding in and of itself.
    – uhoh
    Aug 28, 2021 at 3:02

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Like everything in Taiwan, getting a bank account, a mobile phone plan, a credit card as a foreigner you will be told "No" for most things you ask to do. If you telegraph the answer as no, they will tell you no, if you telegraph a yes, and give a big smile and catch the right worker on a good day the answer will be yes.

I've rented many scooters on my UK driving license. For things like renting a car, they will ask you if you have an "international Driving license". Legally there is no such thing as an international driving license (the rental companies in Taiwan pretend there is and you should too). You can easily find a template of one online, print it off and add your license details to it. Legally, you're allowed to drive in another country for a number of weeks depending on reciprocity.

If the US lets Taiwan license holders drive in the US for a certain number of months then US license holders can drive in Taiwan for the same number of months.

If you want to rent a gogoro type you can try this website.

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    I laughed so hard I almost spilled my coffee because what you describe exactly matches my experience here as well; in official procedures the rules, restrictions & requirements are strictly observed until it becomes simply easier for everyone if they're not. As long as you approach things with a positive "We can do this!" attitude, a smile and calm, positive attitude and some patience (and if possible do your best to sprinkle in at least a few words of attempted Mandarin) people will invariably try to find a way to get stuff done. And of course if the goal is the exchange of money even more so
    – uhoh
    May 14, 2022 at 22:08
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    Indeed. I'll add, renting a motorbike in a tourist area is usually no problem at all with a foreign license. OP wants to rent a more expensive (new) electric bike maybe in a big city like Taipei, these companies will not be mom and pop businesses and may have more "procedures" and "rules". at the very least they will demand an "international driving license" since no one can agree on what one of these documents looks like, any printed out official looking "international Driving license" on it with the details of the license holder on it will likely satisfy this requirement.
    – David Morton
    May 15, 2022 at 7:42
  • "If the US lets Taiwan license holders drive in the US for a certain number of months then US license holders can drive in Taiwan for the same number of months." I'd like to see some references to support this. If it's true, then maybe people can claim that "If the US lets people fly without masks, then <country x> will let people fly without masks".
    – FreeMan
    May 17, 2022 at 17:13
  • focustaiwan.tw/politics/202112230023 roc-taiwan.org/uschi_en/post/2258.html and more. the driving license laws in taiwan are based on reciprocity, as are real estate laws.
    – David Morton
    May 18, 2022 at 12:54

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