User:Cobrachen/第一生產線/修改區/Local Information/Driving

Transportation from airport to city

Bus

Freeway buses to Taipei City are located in both Terminals 1 and 2 of the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE).

Terminal 1: Buses are located at the southwest side of the arrivals reception area. After clearing customs and entering the reception area, turn left and go all the way to the leftmost end of the arrival hall.

Terminal 2: Buses are located at the northeast side of the arrivals reception area. After clearing customs and entering the reception area, turn right and go all the way to the end of the hall. Then turn right again and go all the way down another hallway.

Although there are many bus services to choose from, Kuo-Kuang Motor Transport Company (國光客運) provides the cheapest fares. Take the Kuo-Kuang bus to either MRT Yuanshan station (preferable if you are heading directly to the conference site) or Taipei Main Station. The fare for an adult is NT$125 (or roughly US$4). Avoid taking the Kuo-Kuang bus to MRT Minquan W. Road station because while the fare may be lower at NT$75, the bus will travel on a much longer and slower route. The average commuting time from TTIA to Taipei is one hour. On your return trip from Taipei to TTIA, please be aware that Kuo-Kuang only provides bus services from Taipei Main Station and the Songshan Domestic Airport to TTIA.

There is a Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) service from Taoyuan to Taipei. However, the extra commuting time from TTIA to the THSR Taoyuan Station via shuttle bus plus the total fare might not necessarily make THSR the optimal means of reaching Taipei.

Taxi

Taxis are available at the airport twenty-four hours a day. Typical taxi fare to Taipei should be around NT$1100 (roughly US$33). The passenger is not responsible for freeway toll fares.

Conference site transportation

Public transportation

One can travel from the Taipei Main Station to the Chien Tan Overseas Youth Activity Center by Taipei City Bus or Taipei MRT (metro Taipei). The Taipei Main Station refers to an area where most inter- and intra-city transportation networks coverage at in Taipei. One must realize, however, that there is an alternative transliteration of Chien Tan, which is “Jiantan.”

Bus

Take Taipei City Bus No. 260 or 220 from the north side of Taipei Railway Station building. Get off at "Jiantan (劍潭)" bus stop. The Chien Tan Overseas Youth Activity Center should be located across the street towards the southwest direction. The bus fare should be NT$15.

MRT

1. Enter MRT Taipei Main Station and spend NT$20 for purchasing a single journey ticket. Then pass through one of the gates, follow the indicators to proceed to the platform of Danshui Line (reperesentative color of which is red). One can either board the trains bound for Danshui or Beitou, which run towards northern Taipei.

2. Get off at the Jiantan Station and head towards Exit 2, which should have signs indicating “to Jiantan (or Chien Tan) Overseas Youth Activity Center.” Walk south along Zhongshan North Road until reaching the traffic lights. The Chien Tan Overseas Youth Activity Center should be across the street.

Taxi

Hail a taxi and show the driver the following Chinese words: 劍潭海外青年活動中心. Most taxi drivers do not understand English, although they will do their best to communicate with nonlocals.

Touring Taipei

EasyCard

EasyCard is a contact-less payment card based on RFID technology that can be used to pay bus, MRT, and parking fares. Passengers who use the card to ride the MRT enjoy a twenty percent discount on the published fare. Users also get a NT$7 transfer discount for MRT-to-bus or bus-to-MRT transfers within one hour. If making a bus-to-MRT transfer, the transfer time limit starts from swiping the card at the sensor on the bus. For MRT-to-bus transfers, the transfer time limit starts from swiping the card at the MRT fare gate

Cards with different stored values and a mandatory NT$100 security deposit can be purchased in MRT stations and convenient stores. The stored value and deposit can be fully refunded if the card has been used more than five times; otherwise, a NT$20 refund fee applies. Most Wikimania attendees who venture through Taipei a lot via public transportation will meet the five-use refund requirement.

There is also a type of EasyCard called Taipei Pass, which is aimed at tourists. The pass provides unlimited bus and MRT rides as well as discounts at selected tourist attractions, restaurants, and hotels for a limited time period. See this link for details. The following is a list of pass types:

1 Day Pass, NT$250
2 Day Pass, NT$450
3 Day Pass, NT$650
4 Day Pass, NT$1,000

Notice that discounts offered at certain places using the pass may not be spectacular: depending on your travel plans in Taipei, purchasing a regular EasyCard may actually be better than purchasing the Taipei Pass.

City transport

Bus

Taipei has a comprehensive and extensive bus system operated by a confederation of fifteen independent bus companies. Many of the routes also serve the neighboring satellite cities in Taipei County. The bus system is fully integrated with the Taipei MRT system with most bus routes having stops near various MRT stations.

Many bus routes are divided into two or three fare zones (called “segmentation zones” in Chinese). Crossing from one fare zone to another requires paying an additional full fare. Crossing over three fare zones results in paying a total of three times the full fare. Usually there are “buffer stops” between each fare zone so that passengers do not face paying twice over one stop.

Passengers must pay attention to an indicator lamp inside the bus that tells them if they have to pay when they get on or off the bus. The lamp displays either the Chinese character for up/on (上, which looks like thumbs up) or down/off (下, which looks like thumbs down). A passenger might pay once when getting on the bus, and again when getting off because of traveling between two fare zones.

The adult fare is NT$15. Seniors over 65 and children below a certain height pay NT$8. Adults who transfer between MRT and bus within one hour enjoy a NT$7 discount if they use a regular EasyCard.

Driving in Taipei

Visitors may legally drive in Taiwan with their foreign driver's license and an International Driver's Permit provided that the visitor's home country offers reciprocal treatment to Taiwan's drivers. See the Taipei Motor Vehicles Office website for a list of countries, subnational states, and territories that have reciprocal driver's license recognition with Taiwan.

Driving in Taipei no worse than driving in New York City. A careful driver should be mindful of following notices:

Beware of scooters (called motorcycles in Chinese despite the fact they are not) that zig zag around cars and that constantly change lanes. There is a special designated place in front of traffic light intersections where scooters may stop when they are ordered to.
Always signal when changing lanes or making turns so that the scooters behind you have time to react.
There is absolutely no turn on red unless a green arrow is on.
Speed limit is always enforced by hidden, privacy invading cameras.
While only the front passengers must fasten their seatbelts on normal roads, all car and van passengers must fasten their seatbelts on freeways and expressways.

Travel to the rest of Taiwan and outlying islands

Those interested in venturing outside of the Greater Taipei Region have various public transportation options. Taipei Main Station is actually a region rather than a particular station where all public ground transportation systems converge; it consists of Taipei Railway Station, MRT Taipei Main Station, Taipei Intercity Bus Terminal, the northern terminus of Taiwan High Speed Rail, and two branch stations of Kuo-Kuang Motor Transport Company. Songshan Domestic Airport serves domestic flights to the rest of the Republic of China administered territories.

Freeway buses

Most freeway buses that travel on the western part of Taiwan drive on Taiwan’s National Freeway network. Traveling from Taipei to Taichung or Kaohsiung by bus is faster than traveling by train.

From Taipei Main Station to other cities

Because of Kuo-Kuang’s former status as a government monopoly, Kuo-Kuang has several bus terminals in the area.

Taipei Intercity Bus Terminal: Freeway buses of other companies, such as U-Bus (統聯客運) and Aloha (阿羅哈客運), depart from here. Kuo-Kuang's passengers whose destination is somewhere in Northern Taiwan (Including Hsinchu, Miaoli, Jinshan, Yilan, Taoyuan and Jhongli), excepting Keelung and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TTIA), should board here.
Kuo-Kuang Taipei East Station: Passengers whose destination is Keelung or TTIA should board here.
Kuo-Kuang Taipei West Station: Passengers whose destination is in Central or Southern Taiwan (Including Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung) should board here.