Graham Holland's Taiwan website

This section of the website is not meant to be a comprehensive guide to transport in Taipei or Taiwan - there are other websites out there with more and better content on this subject than I have either the time or will to match. Instead, I have included here facts and observations that I hope you find interesting. If you have any questions after reading this then feel free to use the "Ask Graham" feedback form and I'll do my best to answer them.

If the most popular pastime for Taiwanese people is eating (see 'Food' section of website) then the next most popular pastime for people living or working in Taipei must surely be 'complaining about the traffic'. The traffic on the roads of the capital city is normally very heavy, and consists of (in order of numbers) scooters, cars, taxis, buses and coaches.

The rule is "if you don't own one yourself then you know someone who does." I think that's a fair statement. You see there are over one million motorbikes (99% of them being scooters) in Taipei City - not counting those which travel into the city from outside the city limits.

Scooters even get their own lanes and underpasses on some of the major roads. But although there are lots and lots of scooters, the problem isn't actually the number of scooters but finding a place to park. According to Cheng Chun-min, the Chief Secretary of Taipei City Government's Department of Transport, there are parking places for less than a quarter of these one million Taipei scooters, with only 80,000 roadside parking places. It makes one wonder where the rest of them are parked when they aren't being used. Do the owners just ride round and round all day until a space becomes available? Or do they park the scooters anywhere and everywhere they can - legally or not? Guess what the answer is!

Apparently the law says that only two people are allowed to ride on a scooter. However, that doesn't stop people testing the laws of the land, and the laws of physics at the same time.

The above scene isn't uncommon, although it can be beaten. I've seen on one occasion four people (two adults, two children) plus a dog loaded onto a scooter. You can also see adults on scooters carrying babies and infants in their arms, or shoppers loaded with bags. Scary stuff.

Although this picture is one of a scooter caught in a typhoon, scooter crashes in normal driving conditions are regular occurrences. They are either caused by reckless car driving, reckless scooter driving (more often), or just sheer accidents.

As an aside... In the first week of my job I had a stand-in boss who welcomed me and asked how I was doing. He was concerned that I was able to get around Taipei without problems. Pointing out to him that I live next door to an MRT (train) station didn't change his view that I would be better off buying a scooter. He also went to great efforts to assure me that scooters were perfectly safe. I thanked him for his advice, but declined his offer of information about where to buy a cheap scooter. Two months ago I heard that he was in hospital with an injured leg and back, and quite severe internal injuries following a crash on his scooter. 'Nuff said.

Car owners routinely complain that it takes too long to get from A to B in Taipei because of the traffic congestion, and that there is invariably nowhere to park once you eventually get to B. In Taipei City there are 630,000 cars but only 44,000 roadside parking places. The irony of the situation is lost on most car owners who fail to see that the roads are congested mainly because of people like them who own a car and insist on driving it into the centre of Taipei, thereby exacerbating the problem.

There is also a disparity between the genders with 33% of all journeys made by men being by car, compared with 16% for women.

The photo on the right is taken from my apartment balcony on a normal Saturday morning around 9ish. The traffic backed up as far as you can see is all heading north down the river to the popular weekend resort of Danshui. Once the cars eventually get to Danshui they then have to find (and pay for) parking for the duration of their stay, and then have to battle the same type of traffic on the way home. Rather them than me.

I love this photo because it shows the stupidity of many of these drivers. On the right of the photo you can see the rail lines for the MRT train system, and the orange roof of my station. The MRT is fast, cheap, efficient and goes straight into Danshui. However, persuading people to leave their cars at home and take public transport instead seems to be as difficult here in Taiwan as it is in the UK.

There's a lot more that can be said about cars and roads in Taiwan but I'm not really the best person to say it. For me roads are the things I have to cross to get to the other side. If you want to read more about cars and roads in Taiwan then you'd be better off checking out the Driving section of Michael A Turton's Living in Taiwan website.

Taipei City has 34,000 taxis and 64,000 registered taxi drivers - of whom, incidentally, less than 2000 are women.

Unlike cities like Kaohsiung where you can wait for ages for a taxi, there isn't usually a problem finding one in Taipei. They are parked in ranks outside MRT stations (see photo above) and shopping centres, with the rest of them roaming the streets looking for fares. If you stand at the edge of the road just thinking (or trying to cross) a taxi will probably slow down to see if you want a ride.

Many people think that there are too many taxis in Taipei but I tend to disagree with that. If there were less taxis then it would be that much harder to find one when you want one.

If you want to get from A to B - usually via W - then the bus could be the answer. Just pick any one of 3,556 buses in Taipei and you're on your way.

Some of the buses have English underneath the Chinese signs on the front but many of them don't. And the routes and stop names are also notoriously difficult for non-locals to fathom out at times, with many of the stops named after local schools, public or even private buildings.

There's a sign as you get on the bus which says whether you pay as you get on (shang che) or as you get off the bus (xia che). Unfortunately these signs are only in Chinese and unless you know them and know the system you could be flummoxed. The Taipei City Secretary of Transport has vowed to fix this problem having only recently had it pointed out to him.

All said though, buses are cheap, and are a good way to get around if you already know where you're going. If you don't know the way then it can be quite an adventure!

There are countless numbers of coach companies ploughing up and down the Taiwan freeway system. The competition is cut-throat and the coaches are luxorious, putting UK coaches to shame. They are a cheaper alternative to flying, and more convenient for shorter distances.

This coach proudly states on the side that it's a 'Technological Flagship'
- a reference to the 'in-flight' entertainment system attached to each airline-style seat.

Taipei citizens love the MRT, and I love it too. The MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) - or the Metro Taipei, to use one of it's official titles (the other being Taipei Rapid Transit System TRTS) - is everything a rail system should be. Ask any of the Monday to Friday, rat-race running sheep* herded onto London's tube system what sort of system they dream of and the MRT would probably be pretty darned close for the vast majority of those polled. It's fast, cheap, clean, convenient (if you live near a station), and easy to use.

There are websites out there which have extensive descriptions of the history, routes, types of track, and anything else you can think of. I don't mean to duplicate any of that here, short of suggesting you check out the Wikipedia entry and the official Metro Taipei website if you are interested. I will, instead, comment on the things that I have noticed during my time travelling on the MRT.

If you want to travel on the MRT you can buy a paper ticket (pic right) which is valid for the length of the journey paid for, or one with a specific amount of credit on it.

However, if you are a regular passenger it pays to buy an Easycard. Credit is added to the Easycard (pic left) using the machines located in the stations. The Easycard is the pressed against the sensor when you enter and leave the MRT system, and the cost of the journey (with a small discount) is debited from your card. Some people keep the card in their wallet, some in their bags, others in holders around their neck. It is curious to watch people pressing their bag (with Easycard in it) against the sensor, or standing on tiptoes to press their arse against the sensor because the card is in their wallet which in turn is in their back pocket!

All MRT signs are in Chinese and English, which makes it so much easier for visitors to use.

Like the Zhuwei audio clip here, all automated announcements onboard the trains are in four languages - Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka, and English.

It's during the times when I'm sitting and waiting for a train at an empty platform that I notice the little things. One of the things which strikes me the most is the cleanliness of the MRT system. From the start (and it's celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2004) the MRT banned eating, drinking, smoking, chewing gum, and chewing betel nuts. Earlier this year the maximum fine for violators was increased to NT$7,500 (GB£125). And it works! Passengers respect the rules and the travelling experience is that much more pleasant because of it.

The MRT system is one of the few places in Taipei where you are guaranteed to find rubbish bins (trash cans), so when you enter a station (having finished your sandwich and drink outside) you can drop you wrapper and carton into the appropriate bin - trash or recycle. Now why can't we do this in the UK?

It's not just the litter/food policy that keeps the MRT clean and tidy. Each station is meticulously cleaned from top to bottom on a regular basis. And I don't just mean the floor, I mean the doors (see photo), the signs, and the windows, walls and ceilings.

Suicidal crossing of high-voltage line prohibited -
Survivors will be fined a lot of money

"Beitou Station. Attention.
Passengers transfering to Xinbeitou please change trains at this station."

Taipei Main Station is at the centre of Taipei. It is the intersection of the north-south Red line with the east-west Blue line. It's also built below Taipei's mainline train station for connections to the rest of Taiwan. The planners have on their drawing board proposals to build an MRT link to Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport, but that's waaaaay off in the future. Around 180,000 people arrive at, or depart from, Taipei Main Station every day, with other popular stations being Xinpu and Ximen (80,000), and Danshui, Jiantan (see photo below), Zhongxiao Fuxing, Zhongshan, and Taipei City Hall (60,000).

Taiwan has had a rail system for over 100 years, but I openly admit to not knowing anything much about it. An interesting note for the trivia buffs out there is that Taiwan's first provincial governor, Liu Mingchuan, built the first commercial railroad in China which ran from Keelung to Hsinchu carrying both freight and passengers.

What is worth mentioning, however, is the 345km, $17 billion (US) High Speed Rail line which is currently under construction. The scale of this project is awesome when one considers that 300km of the full 345km route will be built in tunnels or on viaducts. When finished and fully operational it will cut the journey time from Taipei in the north to Kaohsiung (Tsoying) in the south down to 90 minutes, including one three-minute stop at Taichung. A slower train stopping at additional stations will complete the journey in two hours.

Taiwan has a well-developed network of flights to all parts of the island, and as with the coach industry there is also a healthy competition between the different carriers. In Taipei the Songshan domestic airport is conveniently situated in the north east of the city, with Chiang Kai-shek International Airport outside the city to the south.

When I first put together this page on transport I didn't have anything at all on water transport. I knew that there was a 'Blue Highway' tourist link along the river connecting a wharf next to Taipei city with Guandu wharf and Danshui's Fisherman's Wharf, but I couldn't find anthing at all on the Internet about it. I also knew that there were a number of ferry links across the river along it's main length from Danshui at its mouth all the way upstream past Taipei City.

The Blue Highway River Cruise starts from Taipei City, calling at Guandu Wharf (above) and finishing at Danshui Fishermens' Wharf (below).

As I said, when I started this web page I didn't know anything about water transport. And then one day in October 2004 Richard took me down to Zhuwei's wharf. Now it was a surprise to me because I didn't know Zhuwei had a wharf, and I'd been living here for seven months. Actually, it's just a small jetty for private boats, including a water taxi service across the river to Bali - no, not the one in Indonesia - but it's worth mentioning since this is a webpage about transport. I suppose I could have put it in the 'food' section, but that would've just confused everyone, including me.

This photo is taken from the water taxi looking back towards Zhuwei wharf.
That's my apartment block on the left!

When I arrived in Taiwan in April 2004 I was told that everyone who buys a bike to get around (a pushbike, not a scooter) has it stolen within the first two weeks. I don't know if that's true or not, but I know one person who had his bike stolen after four days. I suppose a secure lock is essential then. Another reason for not wanting to use a bike on Taipei's roads is the safety factor. It's dangerous enough to be riding on a scooter but I wouldn't like to try it on a bicycle...

One day in February 2005 I decided to walk from Zhuwei to Guandu Temple along the waterfront cycle path. Quite a few people on bikes passed me, and there were even more when I reached Guandu.

Some cyclists taking a break at Guandu.
You can see Guandu Bridge in the background.

Guandu is on the edge of a nature park and here bikes of all sizes and descriptions are for hire.

Scooters	MRT
Cars	Rail
Taxis	Air
Buses	Boats
Coaches	Bicycles