Taipei Metro and EasyCard Guide 2026: Fares, Day Passes, Bank Card Tap-In, Buses and YouBike

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Taipei's metro is clean, fast and cheap, and in 2026 it is also easy to pay for: the gates take contactless bank cards as well as the EasyCard (悠遊卡) and single-journey tickets. The hard part is choosing. A plastic EasyCard, a tap of your Visa, a NT$150 day pass and a NT$210 Taipei Fun Pass all get you through the same gate, and the cheapest one depends on how many rides you take, whether you ride buses and how long you stay.

The short version: most visitors should buy an EasyCard for NT$100 and top it up, because it also pays bus fares and takes NT$8 off each metro-bus transfer. Riding only the metro a few times? Tap a contactless bank card. Day passes only win on days with long rides. Prices and rules below were checked on the official Taipei Metro, EasyCard, Taipei bus, YouBike and Taipei Fun Pass sites in September 2026; NT$100 is roughly US$3.

Four ways through the gate

Every option charges the same distance-based metro fare; what differs is everything around it. A single-journey ticket (單程票) costs NT$20 to NT$65, is valid only on the day you buy it and is kept by the exit gate. Bank cards work right at the gate: Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay, Diners Club and Discover, or a card in Apple Pay (Express Mode works), Google Pay or Samsung Pay. You pay the single-journey fare, get no transfer discount and may pay your bank's foreign transaction fee. Stored-value cards (EasyCard, iPASS 一卡通, icash) pay the same fare but also work on buses and in convenience stores. The Transit QR Code (乘車碼) needs a Taiwanese payment app, so most visitors can ignore it.

What a ride costs

Fares go by distance: NT$20 for up to 5 km, then NT$5 more for each band of 3 to 4 km, topping out at NT$65 for trips over 31 km, such as Tamsui (淡水) to Taipei Zoo (動物園). Most hops between central sights cost NT$20 or NT$25. Children under 6, or under 115 cm, ride free with a paying passenger, up to four children each.

EasyCard: buying, topping up and cashing out

The EasyCard is Taipei's transit smartcard: one card covers the metro, city buses, the Maokong Gondola and small purchases at convenience stores across Taiwan. The plain adult card costs NT$100 at any 7-ELEVEN, FamilyMart, Hi-Life or OK Mart and at Taipei Metro and Taoyuan Metro information counters (詢問處); some designs are priced higher, such as NT$120. That NT$100 is the price of the card, not a deposit, and the card starts with a zero balance, so top it up before your first ride.

• Convenience store counters and metro information counters add any amount you ask for.
• The EasyCard add-value machines in Taipei Metro stations take multiples of NT$100; single-journey ticket machines with an IC card top-up pad take any amount.
• The balance cannot go above NT$10,000, and the gate or bus reader shows what is left when you tap.
• If your balance runs short on a bus, the card covers that one fare, and you must top up before using it again.

Leaving with money on the card? Any Taipei Metro information counter, or any Taoyuan Metro station including the airport ones, refunds the balance and locks the card. You pay a NT$20 fee unless the card has been used at least five times and held for three months, the NT$100 card price is not refunded, and balances over NT$1,000 must be claimed on the EasyCard website instead. Run the card down near the end, or keep it for next time.

iPASS (一卡通) works the same way on Taipei's metro and buses, but cashing out is harder: refunds happen at iPASS service centers, the Airport MRT stations for Terminal 1, Terminal 2 and Airport Hotel, or Kaohsiung MRT stations, not at Taipei Metro counters, with the same NT$20 fee rule. Buying in Taipei, pick the EasyCard.

Day passes and the Taipei Fun Pass

Every station information counter sells four unlimited-ride passes. The One-Day Pass (一日票, NT$150) starts at your first gate and lasts until the end of service that day. The 24-hour (NT$180), 48-hour (NT$280) and 72-hour (NT$380) passes run that many hours from the first tap, the better buy if you start in the afternoon. Machines at twelve big stations, including Taipei Main Station, Ximen and Songshan Airport, sell token versions. All cover only the Taipei Metro and Circular Line (環狀線), for one person at a time.

Do the sums before you buy. A typical city day of four rides at NT$20 to NT$25 costs NT$80 to NT$100 by card, well below the NT$150 day pass. A pass only starts paying off when the day includes long rides: Taipei Main Station to Tamsui and back is NT$100 on its own, so add a couple of rides and you reach the NT$150 price. Over three busy days, the 72-hour pass works out to about NT$127 a day.

If buses are part of your plan, look at the Fun Pass Transportation Pass. Beyond the metro it covers city buses in Taipei, New Taipei and Keelung and six Taiwan Tourist Shuttle (台灣好行) routes such as Jiufen-Jinguashi, but not four-digit intercity routes, the light rail or the Taoyuan Airport MRT. Days are calendar days, so a one-day pass first used at 5 pm ends at midnight. It is sold at metro information counters and online, and cannot be topped up or refunded once used. The Unlimited Pass adds attraction tickets, from NT$1,300 for one day.

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三個問題的決策樹，成人票價 2026 年 9 月查證。問題一：會搭公車嗎？會的話買悠遊卡，卡片 NT$100 不含押金、自行儲值，公車每段 NT$15、上下車都要刷卡，捷運與公車 1 小時內轉乘折 NT$8；整天搭公車加捷運可考慮北北基好玩卡交通暢遊券，1 日 NT$210、2 日 NT$340、3 日 NT$470、5 日 NT$730。不會的話問題二：一天捷運車資會超過 NT$150 嗎？會的話買捷運一日票 NT$150（啟用當天收班前有效），或 24 小時 NT$180、48 小時 NT$280、72 小時 NT$380，只能搭台北捷運與環狀線。不會的話問題三：有感應式信用卡或手機錢包嗎？有的話直接刷卡進站，扣單程票價 NT$20 到 65，沒有轉乘優惠、公車不收信用卡；沒有的話買單程票 NT$20 到 65，限購買當天有效，或買悠遊卡。從台北車站出發：西門 NT$20、台北101/世貿 NT$25、松山機場 NT$25、北投 NT$30、動物園 NT$35、淡水 NT$50，最高 NT$65。規矩：營運 06:00 到 24:00，車站與車廂禁止飲食，罰鍰 NT$1,500 到 7,500，同站進出 15 分鐘、不同站 2 小時，逾時多扣 NT$20，未滿 6 歲或身高未滿 115 公分兒童免費。 / A three-question decision tree with adult prices checked in September 2026. Question 1: will you ride city buses? If yes, get an EasyCard: NT$100 for the card with no deposit, top it up yourself; buses cost NT$15 per segment and you tap on and off; metro-bus transfers within 1 hour take NT$8 off; for full days of buses and metro, the Taipei Fun Pass Transportation Pass costs NT$210 for 1 day, NT$340 for 2, NT$470 for 3 and NT$730 for 5. If no, question 2: will one day's metro fares top NT$150? If yes, buy the One-Day Pass at NT$150, valid until the end of service that day, or the 24-hour NT$180, 48-hour NT$280 or 72-hour NT$380 pass, valid on the Taipei Metro and Circular Line only. If no, question 3: do you have a contactless bank card or phone wallet? If yes, tap it at the gate and pay the single-journey fare of NT$20 to 65 with no transfer discount; buses do not take bank cards. If no, buy a single-journey ticket for NT$20 to 65, valid on the day of purchase, or an EasyCard. Sample fares from Taipei Main Station: Ximen NT$20, Taipei 101/World Trade Center NT$25, Songshan Airport NT$25, Beitou NT$30, Taipei Zoo NT$35, Tamsui NT$50, maximum NT$65. Rules: service 06:00 to 24:00; no eating or drinking in stations or trains, fines NT$1,500 to 7,500; 15 minutes to exit at the same station, 2 hours between stations, NT$20 extra if over; children under 6 or under 115 cm ride free.

City buses: tap on, tap off

Buses reach the places the metro skips, and the rules are simple once you know them. The adult fare is NT$15 per segment whether you pay by card or cash; on longer routes, crossing a segment boundary adds another NT$15.

• Tap your card when you board and again when you get off, as on all Taipei and New Taipei buses since July 2019. Forget to tap off and the card still works, but you lose the next transfer discount.
• Paying cash? Buses sell no tickets and give no change, so have exact coins ready.
• Bank cards are not accepted on Taipei city buses; use an EasyCard, iPASS or icash.
• Wave at the bus as it approaches so it pulls in, and press the bell well before your stop.
• Switch between metro and bus within 60 minutes on one of those cards and NT$8 comes off the second ride.

YouBike 2.0 without a Taiwanese phone number

YouBike membership, the kind that lets you rent by tapping an EasyCard, needs a Taiwanese mobile number for SMS verification, so visitors use Single Rental (單次租車) in the YouBike app. It takes credit cards only. Each authorization lasts 120 hours with a NT$3,000 hold, cancelled when the authorization ends if you returned the bike normally; your bank sets how fast it clears. Since 1 January 2026 nobody can rent without the free public bicycle injury insurance, which Single Rental users add in the app.

1. In the YouBike app, open the side menu, tap member login/registration (會員登入/註冊), then Single Rental at the bottom of the screen.
2. Enter your details, add a credit card, confirm the code sent to your email and check that the insurance shows as active.
3. At the bike, tap Scan to Rent (掃碼借車) and scan the QR code on the bike's own screen (車機), or type the code if glare blocks it. When the screen says 請取車 (take the bike), pull the bike back by both handlebars.
4. To return it, line the wheel up with the guide slot of an empty dock and push the lock into the slot until the screen shows 還車成功 (return successful).

Single Rental pays the standard rate: NT$10 per 30 minutes for the first four hours on a regular YouBike 2.0, NT$20 per 30 minutes from four to eight hours and NT$40 per 30 minutes after that, with any part of 30 minutes charged as a full block. The electric YouBike 2.0E costs NT$20 per 30 minutes for the first two hours, then NT$40. Taipei's free first 30 minutes is a subsidy for registered members, so Single Rental does not get it.

Metro hours and the rules that cost visitors money

• Service runs 06:00 to 24:00 on all five Taipei Metro lines; after 23:00 trains come about every 8 to 12 minutes. Last trains differ by station, so check yours on the First & Last Trains page.
• No eating, drinking or chewing gum in stations or on trains, and that includes a sip of water. The standard fine is NT$1,500, rising to NT$7,500 if it delays trains by more than ten minutes.
• Inside the gates you get two hours between different stations, or 15 minutes if you exit where you entered; go over and an extra NT$20 is deducted.
• Luggage can be up to 165 cm on its longest side and 220 cm in total length, width and height.
• Give your seat to older passengers, pregnant women, people with young children or disabilities.

Plan your days in Taipei

Taoyuan Airport to Taipei: Airport MRT, bus and taxi

Paying in Taiwan: cash, cards and EasyCard

Where to eat in Taipei

• Transport
• Budget