Bikes on bus

Does anyone know a bus service from Yilan to Taipei that transports bikes plus passengers? Basically, a friend and I are going to ride the either the Bei Yi or Bei Hen and just want to go one way.

I know one way would be to send it by train. But I would like to avoid doing this if possible.

Thanks in advance.

[quote=“circleback”]Does anyone know a bus service from Yilan to Taipei that transports bikes plus passengers? Basically, a friend and I are going to ride the either the Bei Yi or Bei Hen and just want to go one way.

I know one way would be to send it by train. But I would like to avoid doing this if possible.

Thanks in advance.[/quote]

i may be wrong but so long as you take the wheels off and put the bike in a bike bag the driver will just throw it in the luggage compartment like any old luggage no?

Yes, bag it so they can’t see it’s a bike, and you should be fine. Make sure you label it as fragile or something, and then make sure again it still doesn’t end up beneath a pile of luggage.

I tried to board the Guoguang airport bus to Taipei with a bike as is (no box, no bag), and the old battleaxe in charge of boarding kicked up a huge fuss over it not being in a proper box, and then made me buy a Child ticket for the bike :s . Just because she could.

On more than one occasion I’ve just put the bike whole in the luggage compartment and stuck other peoples’ luggage beside it to prevent it from slipping. I find the drivers of the Guo Guang Bus Co. to be quite chill in that regard.

I’ll check out the Guo Guang bus service then. Thanks for the info!

[quote=“Nuit”]Yes, bag it so they can’t see it’s a bike, and you should be fine. Make sure you label it as fragile or something, and then make sure again it still doesn’t end up beneath a pile of luggage.

I tried to board the Guoguang airport bus to Taipei with a bike as is (no box, no bag), and the old battleaxe in charge of boarding kicked up a huge fuss over it not being in a proper box, and then made me buy a Child ticket for the bike :s . Just because she could.[/quote]

…my bike would be offended if i bought it a child’s ticket…

Kuo Kuang is usually pretty cool about letting you put non-bagged bikes in the luggage compartment with the wheel off. Not all buses have big luggage compartments.

However, from Yilan, you will be taking Kamalan Bus company through Snow Mountain. They require the bike to be disassembled and in a bag. This is a new operation with high standards. They mean it. Also, tickets sell out real quick on Sundays, so this is not always a reliable option.

From Yilan, you could also bag your bike and get two of them along with two passengers into the new mini-station wagon taxis. That would be NT$1200.

Ranging further afield, Ubus (Tonglian), for some time now, has only allowed bagged collapsible bikes. Absolutely no full-sized biked, bagged or not.

The whimsically named Ding Dong (Taidong) and Hualien Keyun will allow bike with wheel off in compartment below but will charge extra half fare.

Jiayi and Nantou bus companies have been way cool about allowing bikes in various configurations on board with no extra charge.

But the very cool news is that there are now a few local trains that you can take your bike on without bagging it (roll on, roll off). On Sundays, coming up from Yilan, these are:

區間車 2732 – 蘇澳 至 樹林 16:33 18:28 1小時55分 [折疊自行車可置於攜車袋中隨身攜帶] [自行車運送服務]
區間車 2744 – 蘇澳 至 樹林 18:54 21:01 2小時07分 [折疊自行車可置於攜車袋中隨身攜帶] [自行車運送服務]

The departure times are from Yilan Station.

There are some restrictions–you can’t use every station (Taipei station is out) and there are some limitations on availability but basically you just show up and it will work.

Here’s the new TBA Bike Train page (Chinese only) where you can look up bike trains in other regions.

i had no problem with the bike on kuo kuang bus co, whole and in the back of the passenger deck (but on an otherwise almost empty bus). YMMV.

carrying a bag is a hassle, but extra large heavy duty garbage bags look good enough if you need to ‘bag’ it.

edit: the Kuo Kuang goes around the coast, not through the tunnel.

Feiren thanks for taking the time for this excellent information. I greatly appreciate it! I happen to be going with some Taiwanese buddies of mine, so I will also see what they come up with. They are generally pretty resourceful.

I have just rolled my bike on the train from Songshan station to Hualien before. It was kind of a hassle because the info booth guy said I could take it on the train, but when I went to buy the ticket, the officer said I couldn’t. After going back to the info guy, he went directly to the ticket officer and told him that I could… eventually i just rolled it on and had to pay an extra fee.

I’d like to avoid taking the train as it is usually pretty slow compared with going through the tunnel from Yilan to Taipei.

[quote=“circleback”]Feiren thanks for taking the time for this excellent information. I greatly appreciate it! I happen to be going with some Taiwanese buddies of mine, so I will also see what they come up with. They are generally pretty resourceful.

I have just rolled my bike on the train from Songshan station to Hualian before. It was kind of a hassle because the info booth guy said I could take it on the train, but when I went to buy the ticket, the officer said I couldn’t. After going back to the info guy, he went directly to the ticket officer and told him that I could… eventually i just rolled it on and had to pay an extra fee.

I’d like to avoid taking the train as it is usually pretty slow compared with going through the tunnel from Yilan to Taipei.[/quote]

You are not allowed to roll your bike on and off local trains except for the trains designated for bikes. Sometimes you can get away with it at big station in the north but I wouldn’t count on it. A friend of mine who insisted recently found the cops waiting for him when he got off in Taipei. There are just too many people trying to do this. YMMV. The biking viking ran into this problem on a recent ride.

The train is about two hours from Yilan. Traffic in the tunnel on the weekend is heavy. You won’t save much time on the bus, especially if you have to wait and hour or so for a ticket as is the usual routine on weekend. Good luck and bring a book!

In addition to the above information, you can also take a Shoudu bus. We’ve taken it several times in the last couple of months and we sometimes haven’t even had to take off the front wheel. We have never had to wait any longer than the next bus, but then we always go on week days rather than on the weekends. The only reason we have had to wait is when we’ve been more than three people, because they seem to only allow three bikes per bus, but with Shoudu, that only means waiting 15 minutes for the next bus on a weekday afternoon.

Note that we’ve always only taken it from Jiaoxi, not Yilan, but friends who have taken Shoudu from Yilan (station is next to the train station, also on weekdays) have had the same experience: next bus, don’t even have to take off the front wheel.

As for trains, as Feiren said in referring to my bike blog in the previous post, taking the train may imply a long wait if you don’t have a bike bag. However, as I also said in the same post, if you want to take the train, getting a couple of those big black plastic garbage bags is a good substitute for a regular bike bag.

Happy biking!

I’ve never had a problem just getting on the bus (play stupid).

When you buy the ticket, they ask if you can “make small” to which you say yes. Whether this means foldable or taking the wheels off I don’t know. Depending on the size of the luggage compartment and whether there’s any other luggage, just slide it in or take the wheels off first.

If you’re causing trouble for anyone, be reasonable. If it blatantly fits, put it on and demonstrate as much. Sounds arrogant, but it works. Trains are another matter - goods vans are blaggable, but you need staff on your side (probably easier in the south).

From what I read, Her Husband used heavy duty garbage bags to bag bikes and take them on regular trains - correct? How very cost effective is that? I am excited.

I am trying to get from Taipei to Taidong for for the Triathelon Oct 1/2, and need to get several bikes there and back. None of the trains have the “bikes allowed” symbol, so I was hoping to bag the bikes and take regular trains.

Experience and suggestions appreciated:

  1. Will this work? Rocking up with a regular ticket, and a couple bikes in heavy garbage bags to get on the train?

  2. Since all the tickets coming back Sunday afternoon were sold out (before they officially were available for sale… hmmm - some travel agent scooped them, perhaps?), we bought late night tickets back on Sunday (ughh). We are also considering going down the West coast by taking the HSR to Zuoying, and then the regular train from Kaohsiung to Taidong. Any opinions on this? - it looks feasible on paper…

  3. Is 40 min enough to connect from Zuoying HSR to Kaohsiung train station? ( I hear the MRT does this route).

Heaps of thanks.
Kage

This thread is three years old. Any updates on bikes on buses? Still generally the same as before?

In June, I took the Nantou Bus Company bus from Taichung HSR station to Puli with two bikes. I don’t think we were charged anything extra but can’t remember. This is a great service because the buses come frequently and run until 10:45pm from the HSR station. Recommended. ntbus.com.tw/032.htm

In March of 2012, I took the Kaohsiung Bus company 8025/8028/8032/8038 to Meinong. it goes on to Liugui and some buses all the way to Baolai. We had two bikes. Recommended. ksbus.com.tw/news/trc.htm

I’ve also taken buses from Kenting to Kaohsiung a few times in the past couple of years but can’t remember the details.

A friend recently managed to take his bike on a bus from Taipei Main Station to Dahu in Miaoli–it was probably King Bus (Guoguang) but I’m not sure of the details. Their FAQ says that they can accept bagged full size bikes at their discretion. kingbus.com.tw/q&a.php. See Q9

However, Ubus has a rule posted at its stations that no full size bikes are allowed even bagged. They do allow fold-up bikes in bags though. Their FAQ states the same rule. I tried to take a Ubus from Zhushan and was turned away. Their FAQ states the rule as well: ubus.com.tw/html/service/faq … x=3&page=1

I think the main issue is that Ubus and some other companies with newer buses just don’t have the luggae space under the bus or below the passengers that the traditional long-haul buses had.

I have had my bike bagged on the Kaohsiung and Nantou routes because I was getting off or returning to the HSR. At least once in just a plastic bag. But I think you could probably just put an assembled bike under the bus if they have enough room. YMMV.

My sense is that the bus is a good option in central and southern Taiwan on local bus companies. You may run into problems in northern Taiwan and on the freeway bus companies that run north and south.

The bus isn’t as important as it used to be given that Taiwan Rails ships bikes from almost all manned stations, you can take a bagged bike on local trains and the HSR. Also don’t forget the branch lines to Neiwan and and Shuili (Jiji) that are also very useful.

Chiayi bus company is also very accomodating both from HSR and on local routes. Happy riding!

Thanks. :thumbsup:

Min. of Transport and Comm. bicycle portal

I have a lightweight bike bag that I have no trouble at all with on trains.

We have also used garbage bags and fashioned rope handles for bikes on trains.

What brand is that lightweight bike bag. The one I got from Giant is heavy.