Hey it Works: Public Transportation in Taiwan

Buses at the Banciao train station

One glaring difference between California and Taiwan is seen in the use of public transportation.  In California, you see lots of empty buses, trains and rapid transit trains.  The Amtrak commuter system is rarely used.  Bus after bus passes by empty or with just a few seats being used.  Californians rarely travel by train. 

Of course, one reason that people rarely travel by train may be something like I experienced.  I was traveling to Northern California from Riverside in Southern California.  Because of the mountains near Bakersfield, there was a need to travel for a while by Amtrak bus.  So as I went to board the bus with my luggage the driver told me I wasn’t allowed to travel with luggage.  Yeah that works, if you have to stay the night somewhere, or are planning a stay for a while, I guess you have to wear all the clothes you might need.   

In Taiwan however, buses are full to overflowing, the MRT stations are crowded, and the trains are a popular way to get around.  It might be because the train system seamlessly connects with bus and MRT routes.  There are two types of trains; local and express.  They’re inexpensive, clean and pretty comfortable.  A trip from Taoyuan to Taipei takes approximately 30 minutes.  There are bus stops and MRT connections (In the MRT Service area) at every train station.

The Easy Card:  It is aptly named

Because the buses and MRT are so frequent there is rarely more than a ten-minute wait, except during peak commute hours where buses are full.  In those cases you may have wait for a while to get on a bus. 

The other nice thing about the system is that it can all be accessed with one card:  The Easy Card.  You can put an amount of money on the card at kiosks in the train station, 7-11 and other locations throughout the city.  In fact, the easy card can be used at a variety of shops and places in addition to transportation system.  Here is a look at a small part of the system between Taoyuan City and Banciao.

Trains:

Passengers waiting for the train at the Taoyuan City station.  There are many different types of users for the train:  People commuting to work, high school and college students commuting to class, shoppers and tourists. People commuting to work into Taipei, can make a trip to the main train station in Taipei in about thirty minutes.

All of the train stations have a safe "waiting zone for female passengers at night."  These are well-lighted areas with camera surveillance.  The trains run until late at night and sitting in a poorly lit, nearly empty train station isn't particularly comfortable. The waiting area adds safety and comfort for female passengers.














Crowded trains mean that many people have to ride the train standing up in the aisle, so  handy grab rings hang from the ceiling.

The photo above is the Banciao Train Station.  In addition, to transportation services, there are shops, and restaurants in many of the large train stations.  There is an entire shopping mall underneath the Taipei Main Station.

MRT:

The MRT station is also clean and well lighted.  You can see the red lights in the platform at the center of the picture.  When the train is approaching the station the lights flash off and on, then remain on as the train gets closer to warn passengers to stand clear of the oncoming train.  Note the "rough tile" next to the waiting line in the center of the photo.  This is to notify blind people that they're too close to the track.

Buses:

People line up at Banciao train station to catch the bus to almost anywhere they need to go.  Buses run from here to almost every point in the city of Taipei.

Every bus is equipped with an Easy card reader, which automatically deducts the NT$ 18 (US$ 0.57) fare.

Disability Access:














This sign on the bus shows the different levels of accesibility available on the buses.  All the trains station make some provision for access.  There are elevators for going above or below the tracks to access different platforms.  There are even people who will lift wheelchair bound people in and out of the train.  One time a man wanted to carry me on his back out of the train, I declined however, for reasons of dignity.














The turnstiles at the Banciao MRT station are equipped for easy card access and you can see the turnstile at the far right accommodates wheelchairs.  All MRT trains are designed to have the floors level with the platform for easy wheelchair access.

All Photos by Emily Banducci

Local Color: Utility Box Graffiti

As in all urban areas there is graffiti.  I worked in South Central Los Angeles as a young(ish) man.  I was blown away by the amount of graffiti.  The graffiti, which was everywhere, was basically only two colors, Red (signifying the Bloods) and blue (the Crips).  There were gang names or tags of color everywhere.

It wasn't the kind of wall art that we've seen in movies and on the sides of subway trains.  It was just messy, territory marking.  As I worked there, I would look at what color the graffiti was and choose a tie accordingly. 

Taiwan, though, is interesting.  I can’t remember a single instance of that type of graffiti here.  I’m sure there must be some of this somewhere but I've never seen it.  There is graffiti here, but it isn't what I’m used to.

Public utilities in Taiwan, like public utilities everywhere have sidewalk boxes.  For telephone companies these boxes are switching boxes.  They’re the place where the phone installer ties the wires from your phone to the phone company equipment.  In the case of electrical companies they have big sidewalk boxes, too.  I have no idea what they’re for.  Electricity as far as I can tell is magic, so I don’t know what is in those boxes.  I’m sure it is some sorcerer’s tools or something.

You don’t see that in a blog very often:  A blogger actually highlighting his own ignorance.  I just know that when I plug something into the socket electricity comes out.  When I unplug it the electricity stays in, just the opposite of a champagne bottle.

So much for that, back to the sidewalk boxes.  When the company installs them they are sort of a light gray, like they must have gotten some deal on that color.  Then they take a stencil and stencil the power company or phone company logo and a number on it. 

Because of the color and the flat sides they are just graffiti magnets.  You see graffiti all over these things.  The interesting part is no one ever complains.  The utility companies don’t spend a cent on cleaning them and I’ve even seen people standing there admiring them.  Here’s Why:

Photo Credits:
L. A. Gang Graffiti: Streetgangs.com
All other photos Ken Jiang and Chris Banducci

Editor's Note:  Most of these boxes are found in Taipei, with the exception of the last photo.  That box is in Taoyuan City.

Other posts you may be interested in:

Local Color:  The Colors of Yingge 
Local Color:  A Winter Trip to Danshui
Local Color:  The Taoyuan City Ghost Festival Parade

Day Tripping: Bei Tou Hot Springs, Taipei

Other posts you may be interested in:

Day Tripping:  Jiufen
A Visit to the Lantern Festival in Zhubei, Taiwan
Clearing out the Camera:  Random Shots of Taiwan


Photos by Elizabeth Banducci

Clearing out the Camera: Random Shots of Taiwan

All Photos:  Chris Banducci

Other Posts you may be interested in:

Taiwan Travelogue:  Driving to Hawaii
Random Asianess:  The Rest Stop
Day Tripping:  Jiufen

Local Color: A Winter Trip to Danshui

For the last month or so we've been enduring the usual northern Taiwan winter weather:  Cold, gray, rainy skies.  The temperature hadn't been too low yet, but it wasn't shirtsleeve weather either.  We had started to fall into the emotional winter grays, as well.  Living in northern Taiwan in the winter is like I imagine living through England’s winter weather would be. 

The main differences between a northern Taiwanese winter and a normal English winter are heaters and fireplaces.  Very few, if any central heaters in homes and apartments exist and to this day I have never even seen a chimney indicating a fireplace here.  If you think about it, Taiwan is a small island and if everyone was burning wood all winter the islands would be balder than I am.  So winter, because of the high double-digit humidity and the utter lack of heating in homes, can get bone-chillingly cold. 

I don’t do well in cold weather.  I have a tendency to hole up next to a space heater and mutter incoherently, but enough about me.  Let’s just say that the weather wasn't beautiful. Then, last Saturday, December 29,  as if a miracle had occurred I thrust off the blankets.  The joints didn't hurt, the mumbling had stopped, I almost spoke a coherent sentence.  Last Saturday dawned brilliantly.  Last Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous, warm, spring-like day.  Life returned to northern Taiwan. 

My daughters and a number of their friends took a trip to Danshui.  Danshui is in the north of Taipei just across the Keelung River:  The very last stop on the MRT.  Here are some striking pictures they took of Danshui, Fisherman’s wharf, and the Taipei Skyline.

Thanks to Elizabeth and Emily Banducci for the Pictures.

Danshui the last stop on the MRT

Bali's Skyline from a boat on the Keelung River

A couple of electric bicycles and about a gazillion people 

An Evening Shot

Other posts you may be interested in:

Local Color:  The Temples of Taoyuan City

Local Color:  The Colors of Yingge

Local Color:  Ju Ming Museum in Taipei

Local Color:  The Taoyuan City Ghost Festival