It’s a pity… normally I prefer bus over MRT for commuting in the city for I like to look through the window, but MRT feels cleaner and more modern. Plus bus drivers are nuts. The MRT to the airport must have nice views of the polluted mountains, the slums and whorewarehouses, so I would take it instead of the kamikaze bus.
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Can’t agree more, bus drivers here don’t give a shit. They merge and stop when they feel like it.
Bus drivers are awful and a lot of these buses are crappy too, plus hard to figure out their routes and stops quite often.
Never mind the extornionate taxi fares.
The airport MRT is be a really nice addition to the city and it’s great for Linkou area too. Something like 80ntd both ways from Linkou station so not too bad.
I’m curious as to what bus line you’re taking.
I may not travel as much as you, but the few times I’ve taken the bus to the airport I’ve taken Kuo Guang and have had the complete opposite experience.
Assuming one means “extortionate”, to what in the world are you comparing them?
If Taiwan taxi rates aren’t the cheapest anywhere, they have to be awfully close to it.
Driving city buses is quite different from driving intercity/long haul buses, and in this last category we include airport buses.
City bus drivers work 12 to 17 hours a day, under very stressful conditions. Some long haul companies also press their drivers too far. Most suffer from kidney stones from lack of “evacuation” facilities and uneven eating schedules.
Airport buses are mostly reputable and reliable. You have the option of Guo Kuang Hao, EVERGREEN Shuttle, plus a myriad of hotel airport shuttles also available to the general public. I haven’t heard of any of these airport buses catching fire or having a strepitous accident as often as other long haul buses do.
Top rate to the airport is like 1100 ntd by taxi, which is quite reasonable given the distance, IMHO. If that is not good, you have provate drivers competing with fares as low as 900 ntd for a van, for example.
Taxi drivers that belong to companies, like Taiwan Taxi, Ta Fong, Metro, etc. are usually quite professional in their driving and must upkeep their carsproperly. It is the independents that show up with pinglan and karaoke and other less amenable “amenities”. You, as a customer, can make the informed hoice. You do not have to take the first one that comes along. Take the bad ones off the market by not giving them your patronage. If you have any problem with a taxi that belongs to a company, you have ample ways to complain and be heard. Taxis here are clearly identified.
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I can think of a few cities in developing countries where they’re cheaper. Developed countries, maybe not.
A few.
I guess that would make Taiwan “awfully close”, as noted .
And certainly light years away from anything like “extortionate”.
A few that I can think of from experience, which could be extrapolated to many others, my point being they’re not cheap by developing country standards, but by the standards Taiwan is supposed to have, I have no complaint pricewise. 
They’re not too bad by developing country standards, as it turns out.
Cairo, Delhi, OK.
Still cheaper than Bangkok, never mind all over N America (except Alaska) and Europe.
Check out Paris.
Check out Tokyo, FFS
From Narita Airport, you have two rail companies competing (one of them, Keisei, operates the fastest train in Japan that is not part of the Shinkansen system), plus reasonably priced buses should you prefer door-to-door service. You’d be nuts to take a taxi from that airport.
Guy
Yeah, and you can get pizza by the slice at Vancouver Airport, but I’m pretty sure the topic under discussion is a comparison of Taiwan’s Airport Taxi rates with those of other countries, not the mental condition of their patrons.
Some of the airport buses with the doillies and neon lights.
1300 ntd into the city minimum. I think it’s pretty steep when private car is something like 800ntd minimum.
The company I work for pays for it, but I think it’s a bit too much to be honest. Usually works out at 1350 for me.
The cars and drivers are generally decent though mostly Toyota wish good legroom and service (not like china where you have to chuck the luggage into the back of the car yourself…but hey china SUCKS in general so why should taxi drivers be any different).
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Specifically the airport? I thought we were talking about taxis period.
What about the ones where the air fresheners smell like old slapper Combat Zone waitresses? No extra charge for that, my friend, all part of the package
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It’s all part of the experienceTM.
To each his own. I do still believe some furriners prefer to go out of their way to make their experience as unpleasant as possible and hence have something to complain about/feel superior to. Or move the comparison flag accordingly.
I mean, heck, I come from the 4th world, I am delighted to come and go to the airport in one piece, my bar is set really low. But I book a private Merc or BMW back and forth because I am worth it. And usually I am loaded with two pieces of luggage, one carryon, one backpack, and as many plastic bags with duty free items as I can get away with.
Hence, I also took taxi from my pal’s place in outer Tokyo to the airport -not Narita, though- less than 10k yen, which comes like almost 4k NTD. But it was that or hauling the above mentioned loot through Tokyo metro system… heck no.
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In a completely different topic, this morning we were stuck 15 minutes more or less inside a train on the Xindian line. First time I got a bit worried as the lights flickered - not a pleasant thought being stuck 50 meters below ground…in the dark. 
i never really had much of a problem with the coaches here. they are pretty comfortable even when old. and the price is great. the normal buses though , yea i hate those.