The paid busses run by Kingbus that travel to/from downtown Hsinchu city and the HSR station has had its frequencies cut, effective May 26. Now, there are busses that run only every hour. Busses depart the HSR station at 5 min past the hour starting at 7:05, and ending at 23:05. Return busses depart Dongmen Market ten minutes past the hour fromn 7:10 to 22:10, with an extra trip at 6:20. Apparently there wasn’t enough ridership.
This reduction of frequencies makes the HSR much less useful for those headed into town or thereabouts - what good is it to arrive at the HSR station early, only to be stuck with a long wait? Sure if one is headed downtown one can take TRA’s Liujia line. I took the free HSR bus to Zhubei station, and then TRA to Hsinchu station. It wasn’t worth it.
This sucks, especially for riders getting off near the universities (NCTU and NTHU). For getting straight downtown, the Liujia line works fine. But the stops between Zhuzhong and North Hsinchu Station are (for most of us) worthless–way off in the middle of nowhere.
Which is a roundabout way to say: bring back the frequent bus service!!!
After looking at the map of the area, it dawned on me that for those of us headed to the universities, a reasonable alternative might be to take the Liujia line for just one stop to Zhuzhong, and transfer to Bus Route 1 to go down Guangfu Rd. Has anyone tried such to see how well it works?
Another update: Kingbus has announced that route 1782, the route from/to the HSR station will be terminated as of 7-1. Not much of a surprise actually, when one considers how hourly service sort of kills the point of taking the HSR unless one arrives at a time close to the bus departure with their earlier reduction to hourly service.
They actually recommend doing the TRA to Zhuzhong and then Route 1 arrangement that I mentioned earlier as an alternative.
The service has been continued for 3 additional months beginning July 1 due to, according to the company, the city government’s desire to serve travelers. The buses run hourly or less, with departures from the HSR station at 18 min past the hour starting at 7:18 with the last bus at 20:18 (no 11:18 and 12:18 buses). Buses headed to the HSR station department the East Gate Market (東門市場) at 10 past the hour, starting at 6:10 with the last bus leaving at 19:10 (no 12:10 or 13:10 buses).
Any update on this bus route (from Hsinchu HSR Station to NCTU/NTHU)–and info about the schedule? If any forumosans have details to post and pass along, I’d very much appreciate it!
There are now 22 busses/day each way on route 182, operated by Kingbus, and it’s treated as a regular city bus ride. Fare is NT$15 per adult. Frequency is more than that previously available.
I can attest now that the bus route works, if you’re OK with the less-than-ideal 40 minute intervals. The Guoguang buses (aka King Bus) are clean and new. The drivers I had were professional. Easy Cards accepted. The fare is a very reasonable NT$15.