Transportation in Taiwan - Living and Teaching English in ...

Each of the major cities in Taiwan has an excellent public transportation system in place, with Taipei having one of the highest rated systems in the world. The ... Skiptocontent ReachtoTeachRecruiting HOME *JOBBOARD* ABOUTUS WHYWORKWITHREACHTOTEACH? WHYUSEARECRUITER? OURVIDEOS OUREVENTS CONTACTUS BLOG REVIEWS TEACHABROADPROGRAMS TEACHINSOUTHKOREA TEACHENGLISHINSEOUL TEACHENGLISHINBUSAN TEACHENGLISHINDAEGU TEACHENGLISHINJEONJU KOREANPRIVATESCHOOLAPPLICATIONPROCESS KOREACOUNTRYGUIDE TEACHINGLOCATIONSINKOREA TEACHFOREPIK TEACHFORGEPIK TEACHFORSMOE FAQs–TEACHINGINKOREA TEACHINTAIWAN TEACHINGLOCATIONSINTAIWAN TAIWAN–FAQS TAIWANCOUNTRYGUIDE FAQs TEFLDIRECTORY FINDATEACHER ADVERTISEONOURJOBBOARD ReachtoTeachRecruiting HOME *JOBBOARD* ABOUTUS WHYWORKWITHREACHTOTEACH? WHYUSEARECRUITER? OURVIDEOS OUREVENTS CONTACTUS BLOG REVIEWS TEACHABROADPROGRAMS TEACHINSOUTHKOREA TEACHENGLISHINSEOUL TEACHENGLISHINBUSAN TEACHENGLISHINDAEGU TEACHENGLISHINJEONJU KOREANPRIVATESCHOOLAPPLICATIONPROCESS KOREACOUNTRYGUIDE TEACHINGLOCATIONSINKOREA TEACHFOREPIK TEACHFORGEPIK TEACHFORSMOE FAQs–TEACHINGINKOREA TEACHINTAIWAN TEACHINGLOCATIONSINTAIWAN TAIWAN–FAQS TAIWANCOUNTRYGUIDE FAQs TEFLDIRECTORY FINDATEACHER ADVERTISEONOURJOBBOARD TransportationInTaiwan YouwillbehappytohearthatTaiwanisaveryeasycountrytonavigateandoffersavarietyofmeanstogetfrompointAtopointB.EachofthemajorcitiesinTaiwanhasanexcellentpublictransportationsysteminplace,withTaipeihavingoneofthehighestratedsystemsintheworld.Thenationaltrainsystemoffersafastandefficientmethodforgettingaroundtheislandduringholidays.TheHighSpeedRail(HSR)lineopenedlessthantwoyearsagoandallowsyoutotravelbetweenbetweenTaipeiandKaohsiunginjust90minutes.   GettingaScooterinTaiwan Taiwanisscooterheaven. Itwouldnotbesurprisingtohearthereisatleastonescooterforeverypersonovertheageof20.ThisisprobablythemostcommonmethodoftransportationinTaiwan.DrivinginTaiwanisdefinitelynotforthefaintofheart,butowningascooterdoesofferalotofadvantages.Theyarecheaptobuyandmaintain:adecentsecond-handscootercanbeascheapasNT$5-10000.Theyoffergreatfueleconomyevenwiththerisingpriceofgas.Ifyourideyourscooterbackandforthtoworkandinyourgeneralneighborhood,youmayfindyourselfspendingaslittleasNT150($5USD)perweekongas.TheyalsoofferyouflexibilityingettingtohardertoreachplacesaroundTaiwan. Havingascooteriscertainlynotamust,butafteryourfirstcouplemonthsitisdefinitelyworthconsidering.Ifyoudodecidetopurchaseascootermakesuretodrivecarefully!Accidentsareunfortunatelyquitecommonthroughouttheisland. Bylawalldriversmustwearahelmetandobtainalocalscooterlicense.Therealityisthatmanyforeignersforegothelicensebutyoushoulddefinitelyalwayswearahelmet!Ifyoudoplanonbeinghereforawhilebyallmeanstakethetimetoapplyforalicense. Scooterstendtojumparoundtheforeignercommunityaspeoplecomeandgo. IfyoudecidetobuyonefromadealerremembertobringyourARC.(AlienResidentCard) BicyclesInTaiwan TaiwanisknownasamajorcyclingdestinationinAsia. GoodsecondhandbicyclescanbepurchasedforaslittleasNT$1,500,butmanyqualitybikesaremanufacturedinTaiwansopurchasingaqualitynewbikeisalsoanoption.Giant,inparticular,producesmanyofitsbikeshereandhasstoresallacrossthecountry.Thoughbikesareagreatwaytoexercise,youwillfindthattheyarenotaveryconvenientwaytogettowork,especiallyifonewantstostartthedaywithoutasweatyshirt! TaiwanalsohasanexcellentYouBikeprogramwhichbikesforrentatmostMRTstations.Youcanrideforthefirst30minutesforfreeifyou’remakingaquicktripbetweenstationsorrentabikeforlonger. Trains&TransportationinTaiwan TheHighSpeedRailtrainscantakeyoufromthetopoftheislandtothebottominjustundertwohours!ForthoseofuswholivedinTaiwanbeforetheHSRopenedtwoyearsago,thismakesforreallyfastandconvenienttransportationinTaiwan. TakingthetrainisoneofthebestwaystogetaroundinTaiwan.Itissafe,trainsrunfrequentlyandontime,andticketpricesarereasonable.Theextensiveconventionalrailwaysystemhasmajorlinesthatcombinetomakeafullcircleoftheisland(alongwithfourbranchesthatallowaccesstothemountainousareasofTaiwan),allowingtravelersaccesstomostofTaiwan’smajorscenicandculturalattractions. Justopenedin2007,theHighSpeedRail(HSR)servicestravelersbetweenTaipeiandKaohsiungwithanumberofstopsinbetween.Atanincrediblecostof$13billionUSD,theHSRisoneofthemostexpensiveprivatelyfundedprojectsinhumanhistory.Reachingatopspeedof300km/hithascutthetraveltimebetweenTaipeiandKaohsiungto90minutes,andhaseasedcongestiononTaiwanesehighways.Thisconveniencecomesataprice,expecttopayNT$1500eachway. BusesInTaiwan Eachofthemajorcitieshasanexcellentbussystemthatmakesgettingaroundthecityveryeasy.Thatisafteryoufigureoutwhereeachbusgoeswhichcantakesometime.Onceyoufigureoutthebusroutesyouneed,theyareaverycheapandreliablemeansoftransportation.Dependingonthedistancetoone’sdestination,intra-citybusfaresrunfromNT$15toNT$25. Busesarealsoanexcellentwaytogetaroundtherestoftheisland.Someofthecoachbusesherecanbeincrediblycomfortableallowingyoutositbackandwatchmoviesyourentirejourney.AtypicalexpressjourneyfromTaipeitoKaohsiungcantake6hoursandcostsroughlyNT$500.Ridingthebusofferscheapandeasytransportationallovertheisland. TaxisInTaiwan ItisasafebetthatwhereveryouareinTaiwan,ayellowtaxiisnotfaraway.Equallyappealingisthecheapfare,whichstartsatNT$70forthefirst1.5kmandrisesbyNT$5foreveryadditional0.5km.Gettingaroundinataxicanbeverycheapandconvenient,particularlyifyousplitthefarewithafriend.Mostlikelyyouwillneedtousetaxistogettoandfrombarsandnightclubs.PublictransportationinTaiwanstopsat12:00pmwhichleavesyouwithfewoptionswhenitcomestimetoheadhome. However,itwillberaretoencounterataxidriverwhospeaksanyEnglishbeyondmaybea“Hello,howareyou?”IfyouknownexttonoChinesethiscanturnintoafrustratingexperience.Thebestadviceistostarttakingbusinesscardsfromtheplacesyouwouldliketoreturnto,andsimplyshowthedriverthecardwiththeaddress.Itisalsoagoodideatocopydownyourownhomeaddresstothebestofyourability,orhaveaChinesefrienddoitforyou. UBERInTaiwan CatchinganUBERislikelytheeasiestwaytogetaround.It’scheapandsafetransportationinTaiwanandthere’snohassleswithtryingtotellthedriverwhereyouwanttogosinceeverythingisaddedintotheapp.Becarefultoavoiddinnertimeandrushhour,especiallyonFridaysandSaturdayswhenratesarealmostdoubled. AirTravelInTaiwan TaiwanofferseasyaccesstotherestofAsia.HongKong,Thailand,Singapore,andthePhilippinesareallatyourfingertipsandfaresareveryreasonable.Inthepast,gettingtoChinawasproblematicwithnodirectflights.TheeasiestwaywastoflytoHongKongandbuyaseparateticketintoMainlandChina.ThisiscurrentlystillthecasebutthenewTaiwanesegovernmenthasopeneddiscussionswithChinatobeginoperatingdirectflightsbetweenTaipeiandBeijing.Theseflightswillhopefullybeginbytheendof2008/beginningof2009! Airtravelisalsopossiblewithintheisland,butunlesstimingisoftheupmostimportance,thecostisusuallyprohibitivecomparedtotrainandbusfares.   SEARCHOURSITE Searchfor: JOBOPPORTUNITIESSouthKoreaGuideOurSouthKoreaGuideEPIK!We’reAnOfficialPartner!TaiwanGuideOurTaiwanGuideAboutReachToTeachMAINMENU