Taipei public transport: tickets, passes and apps

Decide by ride count, not by trip length. A single MRT ride costs NT$20–65 depending on distance, and a bus section is NT$15. If you ride four or more times a day, a day pass or a multi-day pass starts to win; below that, stored value on an EasyCard is cheaper and far less hassle.

The EasyCard is the default. Buy one at any MRT station information desk or convenience store, pay a refundable deposit (about NT$100, check) and top up in NT$100 steps at machines, station desks or convenience stores. Tap on at the gate and tap off at the exit; the fare is deducted automatically. The same card works on city buses, the Maokong Gondola, YouBike and most convenience-store purchases.

Day and multi-day passes suit heavy sightseeing days: a 1-day Taipei pass covers the MRT, city buses and some attractions, and 24/48/72-hour MRT passes cover unlimited MRT rides within the window. Prices change, so confirm at the station before you buy. If you are in Taipei for a weekend of museum-and-night-market hopping, the pass usually pays off; if you are here to work from a café, it does not.

One trap: an EasyCard is not a ticket on reserved THSR seats or on reserved TRA express trains. Buy those separately, either at the station or online.

Fares are distance-based on the MRT and section-based on buses. Children under about six ride free, and there are concession fares for children and seniors (check). The table below is a 2026 estimate; treat the pass prices as a band and verify at the station.

Top-up amounts are flexible, but the card needs a positive balance before you tap in. Machines take notes and coins; station information desks take cards for top-ups in most large stations (check).

Three ways work in practice: a stored-value EasyCard, a day or multi-day pass loaded onto a card, or a contactless bank card straight at the MRT gate. Cash still works on buses, but you need exact change and it slows everyone down.

Contactless bank cards: the MRT gates accept Visa, Mastercard and JCB contactless cards and mobile wallets on a trial basis (check). Buses generally do not, so do not rely on your phone or bank card for a bus ride. If you plan to use buses at all, get an EasyCard.

Apps: the official Taipei Metro app and the city bus app show routes, live arrival times and fares. Google Maps transit directions are reliable in Taipei. For intercity legs, the THSR app and the TRA app sell reserved seats. You do not need an app to ride; you need a card.

Taipei does not use a London-style zone system. MRT fares are calculated by distance between stations, and buses charge by section: one NT$15 section covers a set stretch of the route, and longer rides cost two sections. Tap on and tap off on both MRT and bus so the system knows where you got off.

The EasyCard covers the Taipei MRT, the New Taipei Metro, city buses in Taipei and New Taipei, the Maokong Gondola, YouBike and the airport MRT. It also works in Taoyuan, Taichung and Kaohsiung for local transport (check), which makes it worth keeping for the rest of the trip.

Rules inside the gates: no food, drink or chewing gum, and no eating on buses. Fines apply. MRT stations have free, clean toilets, and lifts at every station.

Taoyuan Airport (TPE) to Taipei Main Station is about 40 minutes on the airport MRT. The express and commuter services both run; the express is faster and slightly pricier. Trains run from about 06:00 to about 23:00 (check), so a late landing means a taxi or an overnight at the airport.

You can tap an EasyCard on the airport MRT, or buy a single ticket at the station. If you land after the last train, a taxi to central Taipei takes about 40–50 minutes off-peak and costs roughly NT$1,000–1,300 (check).

Songshan Airport (TSA) is inside the city on the MRT Brown line, so a domestic or regional flight puts you straight onto the network. Kaohsiung (KHH) sits on the Kaohsiung MRT Red line.

Keep the EasyCard for the whole trip; the deposit is refundable but the convenience is worth more than the refund. Top up before you run low, especially on weekends when station queues are longer.

Stand on the right on escalators and let passengers off the train before boarding. Queues at gates are orderly and enforced by habit, not staff.

If you are staying outside the MRT grid, check the bus routes near your hotel before you book. Buses are cheap and frequent, but they are slower in rush hour and the signage is mostly in Chinese with some English.

For a single sightseeing day, compare a day pass against your planned rides before buying. For a weekend, see the weekend in Taipei plan; for a first visit, the one day in Taipei route covers the core MRT lines.