台北捷運 (Taipei Rapid Transit System)

One thing that I love about Taiwan is their Taipei Rapid Transit System.  It’s just super impressive!

If I live there, I probably won’t even think of buying a car since it’s so accessible (unless you want to go out after midnight).

Taipei Rapid Transit System otherwise called as 台北捷運 (Taipei Metro) is a rapid transport system that serves a large part of Taipei.  It’s very efficient and technology is advanced and environment-friendly too.  The usual 3-hour ride can just be somewhere you can reach for only an hour with Taipei Metro.

I also saw how disciplined the people there are when I rode the Taipei Metro.  Here are just some observations why I said so:

• they patiently line up while waiting for the train.
• they wait for people to go down the train before going in.
• when the train comes, they don’t push people around in order to get in, they follow the line patiently.
• they voluntarily give up their seats for pregnant women, parents w/ kids, old people.  I even saw a person giving up seat for a young foreigner who brought lots of things.  I’m pretty sure that foreigner have this mindset that ‘geez Taiwan is such a great place!’.
• since people are not allowed to eat, drink, spit, smoke in the train, the train is pretty neat.

People waiting in the train.  See the lines on the floor?  It’s a guide to where we should line up to wait.  It’s not directly on the door so people going down will not have a hard time leaving the train.  On the ceiling, you’ll see a sign, it shows how much time before the train arrives.

You’ll see from inside the train the current destination, next destination & also the previous destination.  It keeps you informed so you won’t get lost.  Maps are also on some parts of the trains 🙂

The dark blue seats are made for elders, pregnant women, parents w/ small kids/babies.  Even if there are no more seats available and people are already standing up.  You won’t see people seating down there unless they are elders, pregnant women, parents w/ kids.  Impressive!

Far end section of the train where handicapped people can ride & also people with bikes.  Hey, you can bring your bikes on the train!  Cool isn’t it?

Escalators in the station.  Do you notice that the people just stayed on the right side? It’s courtesy for people who are rushing.  You go to the left if you wanna go ahead and climb up the escalator as fast as you can.

Taipei Metro operates everyday from 6AM to 12 Midnight.  Peak hours are 7-9AM & 5-7:30PM.

There are 3 types of tickets for Taipei Metro (Take note: you can even use the card for buses!):

• IC Single-Journey Ticket – for passengers taking one-way trips
• EasyCard – for passengers taking multiple trips.  Ticket price is 500NT (100NT deposit & 400NT usable balance).  You can recharge your card through the information centers in the station and also through the automatic recharging machines.
• One-day Pass – unlimited travel of one-day use.  Ticket price is 200NT (50NT deposit & 150NT usable balance).  We can refund the deposit within 3 days of the activation date.