With one MRT line, Taichung runs on its city buses: nearly 400 routes and route variants, from the trunk lines on Taiwan Boulevard to the buses out to the coast. Fengjia Night Market, Rainbow Village, the National Taichung Theater and Gaomei Wetlands are all bus trips. The buses are cheap and easy to use once you have an EasyCard or iPASS: tap on when you board, tap off when you get off.
- Fare for visitors, by card NT$15 when you board, then the rest of a distance-based fare when you tap off
- Fare for visitors, in cash NT$20 when you board, more by distance when you get off on longer trips
- Cards EasyCard, iPASS or icash 2.0
- Real-time arrivals the city's bus site (Chinese and English) and the 台中公車 app
What visitors pay
Taichung is known for its "10 km free" buses, but that deal, the city's double-ten discount (10 km free, and no more than NT$10 for a longer ride), is for registered Taichung residents, their foreign spouses and students at schools in Taichung. Everyone else pays by distance:
| Paying with | When you board | When you get off |
|---|---|---|
| EasyCard, iPASS or icash 2.0 (adult) | NT$15, which is NT$5 off the cash fare | The rest of the fare for the distance you rode, if you went past the basic distance |
| Cash (adult) | NT$20 | More by distance, if you went past the basic distance |
| Half fare, card or cash | NT$11 | More by distance on longer rides |
If you expect to ride a lot of buses, the Taichung Go pass is worth a look: NT$180 for 24 hours of unlimited rides on every Taichung city bus route and the MRT. → Cards and passes
How to ride
- Find your bus. Google Maps knows the routes. For live arrival times, use the city's bus information site (switch it to English at the top) or the official 台中公車 app. Note the route number and your stop name.
- Check the direction. The same route number stops on both sides of the road. The city's site lists stops in order for each direction.
- Wave it down. Many routes share a stop, so raise a hand as your bus comes so the driver knows to stop.
- Tap on at the reader as you board. With cash, pay the driver.
- Press the bell before your stop.
- Tap off as you get off. This is how the rest of a distance-based fare is charged, so don't skip it.
Good to know: the MRT takes contactless bank cards, but the city's bus fare information lists only EasyCard, iPASS and icash 2.0. Get one of those before your first bus; convenience stores sell and top up EasyCards.
The routes visitors use most
These come from the city's official route and stop lists. Routes change, so check the live information before you set out.
| Going to | Stop | Routes |
|---|---|---|
| Taiwan Boulevard: National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung City Hall (change for the MRT), Maple Garden | National Museum of Natural Science (科博館(專用道)), Taichung City Hall (市政府(專用道)), Maple Garden (秋紅谷(專用道)) | 300 to 310; 300, 305, 306, 309 and 310 start from the Taichung Station (Platform A) stop |
| Fengjia Night Market | Feng Chia University (Fuxing Road) (逢甲大學(福星路)) | 5 from Taichung Station; 33 and 160 from the HSR station; also 8, 25, 29, 35, 37, 45 and others |
| National Taichung Theater | National Taichung Theater (臺中國家歌劇院) | 60, 69, 75, 161 (from the HSR station), 358, 658 |
| Rainbow Village | Rainbow Village (Zhongyong Road) (彩虹眷村(忠勇路)); Rainbow Village (Lingdong S. Road) (彩虹眷村(嶺東南路)) | 70 and 99 (both from the HSR station), 26; 56, 74, 323 |
| Gaomei Wetlands | Gaomei Wetland (Sanshun Road) (高美濕地(三順路)); Gaomei Wetland (高美濕地) | 309 from Taichung Station (Platform A), 688 from Qingshui Station; 178 and 179 from Qingshui Station |
| Taichung Park | Taichung Park (Shuangshi Road) (臺中公園(雙十路)) | 159 from the HSR station, and many routes from Taichung Station |
| National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts | 美術館(五權西路); 美術館(美村路) | 56, 75, 89; 11, 23 |
| Taichung International Airport | Taichung Airport (臺中國際機場) | 302, 333, 500 (Taichung Station area), 555 (MRT Wenhua Senior High School Station), 156 (HSR station) |
Routes 300 to 310 are the backbone for visitors. They all run along Taiwan Boulevard, mostly in their own lanes (the stops marked 專用道), and all of them stop at Taichung Station: 300, 305, 306, 309 and 310 at the Platform A stop, the others at the Taichung Station (Taiwan Boulevard) stop. At Taichung City Hall, change to the MRT. For Gaomei, the stop for 309 and 688 (三順路) and the stop for 178 and 179 are different stops, so check which one your bus uses for the ride back.
Bus and MRT together
The MRT and buses use the same cards, so it is easy to mix them: the Green Line down Wenxin Road, then a bus across town. The Taichung Go passes cover both. → The MRT Green Line
→ Cards and passes · → HSR station to the city · → Getting around Taichung
Sources
Taichung city bus fare information and official route and stop search; Taichung Go hourly QR passes; Taichung Airport bus routes; EasyCard service points. Checked October 2026.