Taxis...cheap or expensive?

You mean around 3,000 Vietnamese dong? That sucks.

HG[/quote]

Around 3,000 Vietnamese dong? Isn’t that what Annabelle Chong did?

Vietnamese dong?? Whats that in NT dollars? And we were talking bout taxis in Taipei? I have zero idea bout vietnam, but I do want to visit :slight_smile: Heard a lot of good things.

Most experiences are pretty positive. The taxis are usually clean, and as other posters have pointed out, drivers can be quick to compliment a foreigner’s Chinese (even if the foreign passenger says nothing more than “Shi Mao Zhong Xin” or whatever…) Also, they seem to be involved in fewer brawls than a few years ago. In the past, they seemed more prone to rioting, whether it was a political issue or a new policy that somehow affected their livelihood. I hear much less of that these days.

Just a couple little complaints. I’m not too pleased to see more and more taxis equipped with TVs in the front seat. It just can’t be perfectly safe. (I posted something about this a few months ago.) My recent attempts late at night to get them to turn them off have been successful enough.

For locals, the situation can be slightly worse. Around election time (and perhaps other times) taxi drivers can try to get locals into tedious discussions about politics–well, they’re not so much discussions as “rants.”

Many years ago, there was also a spate of abductions/rapes of single women in taxis, but thankfully this is a problem I haven’t heard about recently. (But I’m not sure–I don’t follow news like I used to…)

Well, you’ll love it. For a little over two grand you can be a Vietnamese millionaire

1,000,000.00 VND = 2,013.749 TWD
Vietnam Dong Taiwan New Dollars
1 VND = 0.00201375 TWD 1 TWD = 496.586 VND

Go with Uncle Ho, baby!

HG

Just a reminder: since today the new rates apply for Taipei, so taking a taxi is a bit more expensive.

Taxi fares up 10% in Taipei starting November

[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]Well, you’ll love it. For a little over two grand you can be a Vietnamese millionaire

1,000,000.00 VND = 2,013.749 TWD
Vietnam Dong Taiwan New Dollars
1 VND = 0.00201375 TWD 1 TWD = 496.586 VND

Go with Uncle Ho, baby!

HG[/quote]

But is it like Italy where theres so many zeros you have no idea whats what?? HOw much is the money really worth? What exactly does ONE million dong buy you?

An ao dai on the floor and a smile on your pillow.

An ao dai on the floor and a smile on your pillow.[/quote]

whos smiling , me or her? :slight_smile:

Jesus H, tommy, it’s by no means a zero sum game.

Righto, back to basics, there’s these creatures called “birds” . . .

HG

[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]Jesus H, tommy, it’s by no means a zero sum game.

Righto, back to basics, there’s these creatures called “birds” . . .

HG[/quote]

Well I wish some of these “birds” will fly here because I obviously havent had any for awhile :slight_smile:

[quote=“Rascal”]Just a reminder: since today the new rates apply for Taipei, so taking a taxi is a bit more expensive.

Taxi fares up 10% in Taipei starting November[/quote]

Now than they’ll be happy … they can have the engine run idle much longer now during slow time running the aircon or during cleaning …

It cost me over NT$ 300 to get to work today. In October, the average was between NT$ 200 to NT$ 250. :noway: :bs:

I wouldn’t go to work anymore if I were you … saves you 300NT$ a day …

No, it would save me NT$ 660 a day; that NT$ 330 was just ONE WAY. With this new increase, I’m going to have to redo the spreadsheet and examine the break-even point for buying a car/taking a taxi.

Including a daily 40 minute(each way) commute to Songshan(Taipei) from Xizhi and weekend road trips to random places in the north half of Taiwan, I’m averaging $5000NT in gas in my little 1.6L Mazda 3. Add 2000NT a month for parking at home and another 2000NT per month for parking in Taipei and you’ve got 9000 a month in car expenses.

9000/20 work days = 450
or
9000/31 days = 290
Hope it helps.

As for the price of a car, I’ve seen some real reliable fugly as hell used Honda Civics around for 30,000NT.

[quote=“Rascal”]Just a reminder: since today the new rates apply for Taipei, so taking a taxi is a bit more expensive.

Taxi fares up 10% in Taipei starting November[/quote]

They push the night-rate button in the daytime now. That’s 20% more expensive, isn’t it?.

I dunno, any proof for this? As I understand it the counter & timer in the meter has been modified. I taxi every day to work and the 10% seems to fit.

Isn’t there a commuter train that goes from Songshan to Xizhi?

Isn’t there a commuter train that goes from Songshan to Xizhi?[/quote]

There sure is. It’s about a 15 minute ride and it’s something like 25NT. It’s totally unreliable to take those trains though. You might wait 5 minutes or 35 minutes, regardless of the posted scheduele. My place is a short walk from the Xizhi station but I’d have to take a cab to get to work once I get to Songshan anyway. And I’d be dropping the most fun part of my day anyway.

When I used to go down to HsinChu on a weekly basis, I would go out of the terminal and hit the first cabby I found. Flag drop was 90NT. After I got used to the procedure, I found that the HsinChu cabbys were a nefarious sort. They sit in their chairs, doing BinLang, and really don’t give a crap if anybody needs a ride or not. Strange thing is, that the rail association has built them a nice portico to sit under. So here are a bunch of cabbys doing binlang under the portico, not getting fares, and the truly dedicated folks are out on the street hustling fares. Well, good on the binlang folks. They can sit there doing there thing, and I will walk to the street and get into a cab that gives a shit.
What worries me with the increased drop fare is that we will see more of this crap. Maybe it’s just Hsinchu (I think so) but watch for it.
Now, Imagine, getting off the train (MRT) and grabbing a taxi. Good on ya. Now the driver does the heel/toe go/brake system for twenty minutes. When he’s done, he turns for the funds and then asks you for more because it’s late in the night. You grin while you glare at his binlang stained fangs and hand over the extra funds.
Bring back pedicabs. At least I never met one that did binlang.