Last updated: 2016.04.27
This project springs from an assignment in the course Technology and Disability (STS-5984) taught by Prof. Ashley Shew at Virginia Tech. My intentions to compile resources on accessibility information of Taiwan are twofold. One is from my most painful experience when being “physically-challenged.” I had to move several heavy boxes full of books with a hand truck heading to an exhibition by myself in the early 2011. In a big city like Taipei, where I had lived for three years, I thought it would not be difficult. It ended up being a frustrating experience to move with a bunch of heavy boxes, which could easily fall off the hand truck whenever the sidewalk was uneven. The hand truck was shaking when moving through a curb cut. My ordinary path did not work either. In order to get into a metro station, I have to detour and search for an exit with an elevator and miss several trains. While I know it is impossible to improve Taiwan’s infrastructures simply through this article, I hope providing local knowledge will help ease the pain of travelling around in Taiwan for people who are physically challenged.
Another intention that made me want to compile accessibility information of Taiwan was that Taiwan’s government has not systematically provided accessibility information in any languages on any website as far as I can tell. For English speakers with disabilities, it might even be more difficult to find useful information. Articles on accessibility of Taiwan from NGOs like AngloINFO Taipei and CountryReports both have a page on accessibility in Taiwan, but their information drawing from official statement of Taiwan’s government is not really useful for travelers with disabilities. On DisabledTravelers.com, a blogger compiled a list of resources on tourism and accessibility before travelling to Taiwan. There were unfortunately no updates about his/her post-trip experience.
There are some good articles and discussion from travelers on accessibility of Taiwan. Cherish Amanda, a scholar of disability studies and mad studies, travelled in Taipei and wrote a short post with photos about designated seats for physically-challenged people on metro trains and free power wheelchair charging services in metro stations. There are questions on Tripadvisor and Quora asking wheelchair accessibility in Taiwan, and they got friendly and warm responses. Hazel Amber wrote an article on Tripadvisor and it is the most wonderful one I have seen on accessibility of Taiwan in English. Through the lens of her in a wheelchair, she detailed her surprise and frustration and many fascinating travelling experiences and remarks after her 10-day trip in Taipei City, New Taipei City, Keelung, Hualien (she even got to Taroko!). She also wrote another two articles about travelling in a wheelchair in Japan and Melbourne.
In the following, I provide information of accessibility on Taoyuan International Airport and taxis, railways, metro stations, buses and restaurants in Taiwan. I include English references in hyperlinks. If the references are in Chinese, I will say it is in Chinese in parenthesis following the hyperlinks. While this article is more specific to wheelchair accessibility for travelling in Taiwan, English-speaking people should find parts of it also informative.
Accessibility of Taoyuan International Airport (桃園國際機場)
People most often arrive in Taiwan at Taoyuan International Airport (IATA code: TPE).[1] The airport provides wheelchairs at a charge of NT$35 and ground crew members will help you get into and out of an airplane without tips (Taiwan does not have tip cultures). But you will need to make a request to your airline company in advance to ensure availability and ease of travelling. I will recommend checking in your wheelchairs[2] because their wheelchairs are smaller than the normal ones and fit better into an airplane’s aisle so the crew members will more easily help you move.. You can take a look at those pictures (Chinese) to have an idea of the dimensions of the airport wheelchair and how it works. Depending on the places you are heading to from the airport, the recommended ground transportation options are taxis, Taiwan Railway and Taiwan High Speed Rail. In general, I do not recommend taking intercity buses, called keyun (客運), from the airport because there are currently no low-floor buses for major routes as far as I know.
Accessibility of Taxis in Taiwan
If you are going to someplace in Taipei, Hsinchu or Taoyuan and you are travelling with luggage and wheelchairs right from Taoyuan Airport, you might consider taking a taxi. If you are going to Taipei, the cost is about NT$800–1200 (no tips in Taiwan). Taking a taxi to Taipei will be more expensive than going through Taiwan High Speed Rail (only less expensive if you have five or more people carpooling in a taxi), but a taxi takes you just 30 minutes to any place in downtown Taipei.
You can ask an airport receptionist in English to book a taxi for you at no booking charge. Another option is making a phone call to ask specifically for a wheelchair-accessible taxi serving in English by calling (refer to my other section for information about prepaid Sim cards)
Except for those working in the post office, most of the Taiwanese people do not understand addresses that have been translated or transliterated into English. Always prepare a Chinese version of the address you are heading for.
Accessibility of Taiwan High Speed Rail (臺灣高鐵)
Open to public in 2007, Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) is the fastest ground transportation in Taiwan and runs stations in Taipei, Banqiao, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung (or Zuoying). If you are travelling between Taoyuan Airport and Taoyuan THSR Station and not in a hurry, it is best to transport through Ubus 705, an authorized operator for the route between the airport and the THSR station. (Here is its schedule.) All the vehicles of Ubus 705 are low-floor buses featuring extendable ramps. This money saver will cost you only NT$30 for a one way trip, but you have to buy tickets at an on-site ticket window, and no reservation is available. The intervals are around 5–10 minutes during peak hours and the trip will take 25 minutes. When heading to the airport, it stops at both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Make sure you know the terminals your airlines are located.
In Car 7 of each THSR train, there are four wheelchair accessible seats (two power wheelchairs and two manual wheelchairs; families and friends could sit nearby) and an accessible restroom. THSR also assists with moving through the station. See this page for a wonderful review with pictures of THSR trains and Ubus 705 (Chinese).
Unfortunately, while the online booking service is open to the general public, you will have to go to a ticket window or make a phone call to book an accessible seat. English service should be very good. Currently, they also offer 3-day passes and 5-day passes exclusively for foreigners holding a tourist Visa.
Accessibility of Taiwan Railway (臺鐵)
Taiwan Railway is another option of ground transportation. Though it is not as fast as THSR, it runs stations in Eastern Taiwan including Yilan, Hualien and Taitung. In Hazel Amber’s story of travelling in a wheelchair in Taiwan, she went to Hualien by Taiwan Railway. Not all the trains of Taiwan Railway are wheel-chair accessible, but there are plenty for accessible trains bound for popular cities and counties. See this (Chinese) and this (Chinese) for pictures of accessible seats and trains! Stations of Taiwan Railway are mostly old buildings. While they are ideally accessible, sometimes accessible paths leading to elevators and exits are not straightforward. There is a site (Chinese) with an interactive map for floor plans of all the Taiwan Railway stations that might help ease the pain of moving.
Online booking is available to the general public, but unfortunately not to people booking accessible seats. You should call them at 0800-765-888 (on a public payphone or a landline) or 02-2191-0096 (provided in the bottom of the same online booking page) and request accessible seats. Disabled people will enjoy a discounted rate at 50% off. Perhaps trying too hard to avoid non-disabled passengers abusing this system, Taiwan Railway currently requires disabled passengers to take tickets in person from their ticket windows at a station. Make sure you leave plenty of time for waiting in line and getting your tickets. For non-disabled people, they can take paid tickets from most of the convenience stores.
Accessibility of Metro Taipei (Taipei Rapid Transit System, 臺北捷運)
All the metro stations and metro trains in Taipei (Taiwan’s capital) are accessible. Metro Taipei has ticket machines accessible to people in a wheelchair, automatic barrier-free gates (wider than wheelchairs), signs that indicate paths that will lead to an elevator and an accessible restroom. On a train, there are seats for physically-challenged people and space for wheelchairs. See those pictures (Chinese) on the Metro Taipei website. In Taiwan, people are usually warm and give their seats to those in need to the extent that some senior people don’t really want to be offered a seat because they don’t think they are old! Metro Taipei offers free charging service at all of its 117 stations. You have to prepare your adapters and charging components. This service is only offered upon request because according to their statement, they are afraid that you use the wrong sockets (there are 110V and 220V) and put yourself in danger.
The most inconvenient part of taking metros is that on the ground, you do not know which exit is accessible without getting closer and you have to try your luck. Try out Friendly Metro Taipei on Google Play and App Store with English translations. When GPS is turned on, this app will show you the nearest exits of a metro station with accessibility information and pictures that help you quickly reach an accessible exit!
Accessibility of Metro Kaohsiung (Kaohsiung Rapid/Mass Transit System, 高雄捷運)
All the metro stations and metro trains in Kaohsiung, the second largest city in Taiwan, are accessible. Similar to Metro Taipei, Metro Kaohsiung also features accessible ticket machines and restrooms, barrier-free gates and clear signs. They did not advertise free charging services for electronics and power wheel chairs on their website, but various sources of online news indicate they actually offer. To guarantee the best voltage compatibility with your power wheelchairs, make sure you ask them for this service. They should be more than happy to help. I was born and grew up in Kaohsiung and service in metro stations has been great. Take a look at those pictures for accessibility of Metro Kaohsiung. As of April 2016, the Friendly Metro Kaohsiung (similar to Friendly Metro Taipei) app is only offered on Google Play without English translations.
Accessibility of Buses in Taiwan
Except in Taipei, there are not many low-floor buses in Taiwan as of April 2016. However, even for non-disabled people, I do not recommend travelling outside Taipei (Taipei City and New Taipei City) on buses. Calling a taxi will be a better idea. Taipei is the only exception that has an excellent bus system with frequent intervals and allows its residents not to bother owning a car. Taipei’s government news (Chinese) shows that in 2013, more than 50% of the buses in Taipei City had been low-floor buses. According to another Taipei’s news, as of December 2015, more than 73% of all the buses running in Taipei City, translating into an amazing number of 2,588 buses, were now low-floor buses. Taipei City Public Transportation Office also trained their drivers to better accommodate people that are physically challenged. Currently I did not find any official list of all the accessible bus routes. Bus passengers are recommended to refer to this Wikipedia Page (Chinese) to look up if the bus routes you are going to take is accessible. You can use Google Map to plan a route for you. For the real-time bus schedule, I encouraged you to also download a bus app from Google Play or App Store. For example, BusTracker Taipei on Android devices which has English translations is a good option.
Accessibility of Dining/Restaurants in Taiwan
Dining in Taiwan proved to be the most difficult part of travelling in Taiwan even for experienced travelers like Hazel Amber (her article). While there are accessibility regulations for buildings in Taiwan, they only apply to newly-built restaurants and tea shops that are more than 300m^2. Accessibility regulations for buildings stipulate only the specification of the fixture parts, not the arrangement of movable furniture in general. Therefore, many compliant restaurants are not really accessible because tables might not have enough leg room, and tables might be configured very close to one another so there are no apparent moving paths for people in a wheelchair. This is not surprising given that among countries with populations of more than 10 million, Taiwan has the second highest population density in the world (646 ppl/km^2 or 1673 ppl/mile^2). For Taipei City, 9,950 ppl/km2 (or 25,770 ppl/mile^2) as of Febuary 2016 (Chinese) is a shocking number for foreigners.
Thankfully, there is now an initiative called Friendly Restaurant Project that raises concern for accessibility of restaurants and fills the gap between building regulations and what physically-challenged people really need. They recruit wheelchair users making a field trip to restaurants and made a list of accessible dining places with accessibility ratings. As of April 2016, they only have English translated apps for Taipei on Google Play and App Store. For people who do not bother a Chinese interface and finding a restaurant simply by food pictures and accessibility ratings, there are more cities available in Chinese on Google Play and App Store. I recommend trying the Chinese version for Taipei if you find there are so few restaurants in the English version. My test as of April 2016 made me conclude that they haven’t included a full list of accessible restaurants in the English version.
Prepaid Cellphone Service for Foreigners
For making a reservation of a prepaid SIM card service (at least 3 days in advance) from Chunghwa Telecom including voice communication and data services, see their reservation website. As of April 2016, they offer you an option to pick up SIM cards at Taoyuan Airport. Upon arrival, you should prepare the documents required as per the website and proceed to the service counter of Chunghwa Telecom Airport Service Center.
[1] The airport's IATA code is TPE, suggesting Taipei, but the airport is actually located in Taiyuan.
[2] All the airlines I am aware of allow for one wheelchair or other assistive device at no charge.
Another intention that made me want to compile accessibility information of Taiwan was that Taiwan’s government has not systematically provided accessibility information in any languages on any website as far as I can tell. For English speakers with disabilities, it might even be more difficult to find useful information. Articles on accessibility of Taiwan from NGOs like AngloINFO Taipei and CountryReports both have a page on accessibility in Taiwan, but their information drawing from official statement of Taiwan’s government is not really useful for travelers with disabilities. On DisabledTravelers.com, a blogger compiled a list of resources on tourism and accessibility before travelling to Taiwan. There were unfortunately no updates about his/her post-trip experience.
There are some good articles and discussion from travelers on accessibility of Taiwan. Cherish Amanda, a scholar of disability studies and mad studies, travelled in Taipei and wrote a short post with photos about designated seats for physically-challenged people on metro trains and free power wheelchair charging services in metro stations. There are questions on Tripadvisor and Quora asking wheelchair accessibility in Taiwan, and they got friendly and warm responses. Hazel Amber wrote an article on Tripadvisor and it is the most wonderful one I have seen on accessibility of Taiwan in English. Through the lens of her in a wheelchair, she detailed her surprise and frustration and many fascinating travelling experiences and remarks after her 10-day trip in Taipei City, New Taipei City, Keelung, Hualien (she even got to Taroko!). She also wrote another two articles about travelling in a wheelchair in Japan and Melbourne.
In the following, I provide information of accessibility on Taoyuan International Airport and taxis, railways, metro stations, buses and restaurants in Taiwan. I include English references in hyperlinks. If the references are in Chinese, I will say it is in Chinese in parenthesis following the hyperlinks. While this article is more specific to wheelchair accessibility for travelling in Taiwan, English-speaking people should find parts of it also informative.
Accessibility of Taoyuan International Airport (桃園國際機場)
People most often arrive in Taiwan at Taoyuan International Airport (IATA code: TPE).[1] The airport provides wheelchairs at a charge of NT$35 and ground crew members will help you get into and out of an airplane without tips (Taiwan does not have tip cultures). But you will need to make a request to your airline company in advance to ensure availability and ease of travelling. I will recommend checking in your wheelchairs[2] because their wheelchairs are smaller than the normal ones and fit better into an airplane’s aisle so the crew members will more easily help you move.. You can take a look at those pictures (Chinese) to have an idea of the dimensions of the airport wheelchair and how it works. Depending on the places you are heading to from the airport, the recommended ground transportation options are taxis, Taiwan Railway and Taiwan High Speed Rail. In general, I do not recommend taking intercity buses, called keyun (客運), from the airport because there are currently no low-floor buses for major routes as far as I know.
Accessibility of Taxis in Taiwan
If you are going to someplace in Taipei, Hsinchu or Taoyuan and you are travelling with luggage and wheelchairs right from Taoyuan Airport, you might consider taking a taxi. If you are going to Taipei, the cost is about NT$800–1200 (no tips in Taiwan). Taking a taxi to Taipei will be more expensive than going through Taiwan High Speed Rail (only less expensive if you have five or more people carpooling in a taxi), but a taxi takes you just 30 minutes to any place in downtown Taipei.
You can ask an airport receptionist in English to book a taxi for you at no booking charge. Another option is making a phone call to ask specifically for a wheelchair-accessible taxi serving in English by calling (refer to my other section for information about prepaid Sim cards)
- Safe Taxi Service Hotline 0800-055-850 (on a public payphone or a landline) or 55850 (on a cell phone), which is run by Taipei’s Government. It works for trips within Taipei (Taipei City and New Taipei City) and Keelung and travels between Taipei and Taoyuan Airport.
- Taipei English Taxi Drivers Association at 02-27997997 (on a public payphone or a landline, the area code 02 is omitted if you are calling from Taipei), recommended by Taipei’s government. It works for trips in Taipei and nearby areas, including Taoyuan Airport.
- Taiwan Taxi at 55688 (on a cell phone), which has trained their phone services and drivers to speak in English but I cannot endorse the quality of their English service. They provide wheelchair-accessible taxis (Chinese) in Taipei, Tainan and Kaohsiung and nearby areas.
- The International Community Service Website and Hotline at 0800-024-111. This line is maintained by Taiwan’s Government and provides general services and information for foreigners or immigrants staying or living in Taiwan.
Except for those working in the post office, most of the Taiwanese people do not understand addresses that have been translated or transliterated into English. Always prepare a Chinese version of the address you are heading for.
Accessibility of Taiwan High Speed Rail (臺灣高鐵)
Open to public in 2007, Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) is the fastest ground transportation in Taiwan and runs stations in Taipei, Banqiao, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung (or Zuoying). If you are travelling between Taoyuan Airport and Taoyuan THSR Station and not in a hurry, it is best to transport through Ubus 705, an authorized operator for the route between the airport and the THSR station. (Here is its schedule.) All the vehicles of Ubus 705 are low-floor buses featuring extendable ramps. This money saver will cost you only NT$30 for a one way trip, but you have to buy tickets at an on-site ticket window, and no reservation is available. The intervals are around 5–10 minutes during peak hours and the trip will take 25 minutes. When heading to the airport, it stops at both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Make sure you know the terminals your airlines are located.
In Car 7 of each THSR train, there are four wheelchair accessible seats (two power wheelchairs and two manual wheelchairs; families and friends could sit nearby) and an accessible restroom. THSR also assists with moving through the station. See this page for a wonderful review with pictures of THSR trains and Ubus 705 (Chinese).
Unfortunately, while the online booking service is open to the general public, you will have to go to a ticket window or make a phone call to book an accessible seat. English service should be very good. Currently, they also offer 3-day passes and 5-day passes exclusively for foreigners holding a tourist Visa.
Accessibility of Taiwan Railway (臺鐵)
Taiwan Railway is another option of ground transportation. Though it is not as fast as THSR, it runs stations in Eastern Taiwan including Yilan, Hualien and Taitung. In Hazel Amber’s story of travelling in a wheelchair in Taiwan, she went to Hualien by Taiwan Railway. Not all the trains of Taiwan Railway are wheel-chair accessible, but there are plenty for accessible trains bound for popular cities and counties. See this (Chinese) and this (Chinese) for pictures of accessible seats and trains! Stations of Taiwan Railway are mostly old buildings. While they are ideally accessible, sometimes accessible paths leading to elevators and exits are not straightforward. There is a site (Chinese) with an interactive map for floor plans of all the Taiwan Railway stations that might help ease the pain of moving.
Online booking is available to the general public, but unfortunately not to people booking accessible seats. You should call them at 0800-765-888 (on a public payphone or a landline) or 02-2191-0096 (provided in the bottom of the same online booking page) and request accessible seats. Disabled people will enjoy a discounted rate at 50% off. Perhaps trying too hard to avoid non-disabled passengers abusing this system, Taiwan Railway currently requires disabled passengers to take tickets in person from their ticket windows at a station. Make sure you leave plenty of time for waiting in line and getting your tickets. For non-disabled people, they can take paid tickets from most of the convenience stores.
Accessibility of Metro Taipei (Taipei Rapid Transit System, 臺北捷運)
All the metro stations and metro trains in Taipei (Taiwan’s capital) are accessible. Metro Taipei has ticket machines accessible to people in a wheelchair, automatic barrier-free gates (wider than wheelchairs), signs that indicate paths that will lead to an elevator and an accessible restroom. On a train, there are seats for physically-challenged people and space for wheelchairs. See those pictures (Chinese) on the Metro Taipei website. In Taiwan, people are usually warm and give their seats to those in need to the extent that some senior people don’t really want to be offered a seat because they don’t think they are old! Metro Taipei offers free charging service at all of its 117 stations. You have to prepare your adapters and charging components. This service is only offered upon request because according to their statement, they are afraid that you use the wrong sockets (there are 110V and 220V) and put yourself in danger.
The most inconvenient part of taking metros is that on the ground, you do not know which exit is accessible without getting closer and you have to try your luck. Try out Friendly Metro Taipei on Google Play and App Store with English translations. When GPS is turned on, this app will show you the nearest exits of a metro station with accessibility information and pictures that help you quickly reach an accessible exit!
Accessibility of Metro Kaohsiung (Kaohsiung Rapid/Mass Transit System, 高雄捷運)
All the metro stations and metro trains in Kaohsiung, the second largest city in Taiwan, are accessible. Similar to Metro Taipei, Metro Kaohsiung also features accessible ticket machines and restrooms, barrier-free gates and clear signs. They did not advertise free charging services for electronics and power wheel chairs on their website, but various sources of online news indicate they actually offer. To guarantee the best voltage compatibility with your power wheelchairs, make sure you ask them for this service. They should be more than happy to help. I was born and grew up in Kaohsiung and service in metro stations has been great. Take a look at those pictures for accessibility of Metro Kaohsiung. As of April 2016, the Friendly Metro Kaohsiung (similar to Friendly Metro Taipei) app is only offered on Google Play without English translations.
Accessibility of Buses in Taiwan
Except in Taipei, there are not many low-floor buses in Taiwan as of April 2016. However, even for non-disabled people, I do not recommend travelling outside Taipei (Taipei City and New Taipei City) on buses. Calling a taxi will be a better idea. Taipei is the only exception that has an excellent bus system with frequent intervals and allows its residents not to bother owning a car. Taipei’s government news (Chinese) shows that in 2013, more than 50% of the buses in Taipei City had been low-floor buses. According to another Taipei’s news, as of December 2015, more than 73% of all the buses running in Taipei City, translating into an amazing number of 2,588 buses, were now low-floor buses. Taipei City Public Transportation Office also trained their drivers to better accommodate people that are physically challenged. Currently I did not find any official list of all the accessible bus routes. Bus passengers are recommended to refer to this Wikipedia Page (Chinese) to look up if the bus routes you are going to take is accessible. You can use Google Map to plan a route for you. For the real-time bus schedule, I encouraged you to also download a bus app from Google Play or App Store. For example, BusTracker Taipei on Android devices which has English translations is a good option.
Accessibility of Dining/Restaurants in Taiwan
Dining in Taiwan proved to be the most difficult part of travelling in Taiwan even for experienced travelers like Hazel Amber (her article). While there are accessibility regulations for buildings in Taiwan, they only apply to newly-built restaurants and tea shops that are more than 300m^2. Accessibility regulations for buildings stipulate only the specification of the fixture parts, not the arrangement of movable furniture in general. Therefore, many compliant restaurants are not really accessible because tables might not have enough leg room, and tables might be configured very close to one another so there are no apparent moving paths for people in a wheelchair. This is not surprising given that among countries with populations of more than 10 million, Taiwan has the second highest population density in the world (646 ppl/km^2 or 1673 ppl/mile^2). For Taipei City, 9,950 ppl/km2 (or 25,770 ppl/mile^2) as of Febuary 2016 (Chinese) is a shocking number for foreigners.
Thankfully, there is now an initiative called Friendly Restaurant Project that raises concern for accessibility of restaurants and fills the gap between building regulations and what physically-challenged people really need. They recruit wheelchair users making a field trip to restaurants and made a list of accessible dining places with accessibility ratings. As of April 2016, they only have English translated apps for Taipei on Google Play and App Store. For people who do not bother a Chinese interface and finding a restaurant simply by food pictures and accessibility ratings, there are more cities available in Chinese on Google Play and App Store. I recommend trying the Chinese version for Taipei if you find there are so few restaurants in the English version. My test as of April 2016 made me conclude that they haven’t included a full list of accessible restaurants in the English version.
Prepaid Cellphone Service for Foreigners
For making a reservation of a prepaid SIM card service (at least 3 days in advance) from Chunghwa Telecom including voice communication and data services, see their reservation website. As of April 2016, they offer you an option to pick up SIM cards at Taoyuan Airport. Upon arrival, you should prepare the documents required as per the website and proceed to the service counter of Chunghwa Telecom Airport Service Center.
[1] The airport's IATA code is TPE, suggesting Taipei, but the airport is actually located in Taiyuan.
[2] All the airlines I am aware of allow for one wheelchair or other assistive device at no charge.