TPASS Transportation Card Guide

Q: Can I Upgrade or Change my TPASS Plan?

You cannot upgrade or change your TPASS plan type . You must buy a new card or wait until your current plan expires.

I’ve called Taiwan home for over 5 years and love discovering all it has to offer. I made this blog to share Taiwan living and travel resources I wish I’d had when I first arrived.

This is an overview of Taiwan’s TPASS public transportation pass.

I have an obsession for Taiwan’s smart cards and transportation passes and with the release of the TPASS, I had to know whether this purchase will lower my transportation costs.

Table of Contents

What is Taiwan’s TPASS?

Best for: Traveling throughout a specific region and staying in Taiwan for a month

TPASS is a public transportation card that targets locals or long-term stayers that’ll give folks unlimited usage on the following public transportation methods:

Taiwan Railway Association (TRA): Local train
YouBike: Not actually unlimited
Intercity & city buses
Light rail transit (LRT): Above-ground transit
Mass Rapid Transit (MRT): Subway
Certain ferries: Boats to outlying islands

This pass lasts for 30 days, after which you must renew it. Each pass you purchase is only usable in the region where you buy it.

The “T” in TPASS represents “Taiwan” and “Transport.” Why not call it TTPASS, then?

I digress.

The Ministry of Transportation released the card on July 1, 2023. It supports 11 cities and counties where the most commute happens. They’re working on adding more areas to enhance the cards’ coverage.

Large-Scale TPASS Regions Compared

Taiwan has divided the TPASS into a million smaller areas. However, these are the larger-scale passes I could find information on.

I’ll provide information on pricing for the smaller-scale passes (e.g., for only Taitung County), afterward.

Northern Taiwan / 基北北桃

Price: NT$1,200
Where to Buy: Service counters or ticket kiosks at New Taipei and Taipei MRT stations, any Taoyuan MRT station (except Xingnan Station)
Where it’s Usable: Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, and Taoyuan
Applicable Ticket Type: EasyCard

Transportation	Details
Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)	Taipei MRT, New Taipei MRT (Circular Line), and Taoyuan MRT.
Light Rail (LRT)	Danhai and Ankeng light rails.
City Bus	All city buses within supported areas.
YouBike	Free usage for 30 min. 60 free minutes in Taoyuan.
Intercity Bus	All intercity buses within supported areas.
Taiwan Railway Association	All stations on the Yilan Line, Pingxi Line, Shen’ao Line, & Zhongguan Line.

Where you can use the TPASS in Northern Taiwan.

Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli / 桃竹竹苗

Price: NT$1,200
Where to Buy: Any convenience store
Where it’s Usable:Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli
Applicable Ticket Types: EasyCard and iPASS

Taoyuan Metro	Taiwan Railways
City bus	Highway bus
YouBike

Where you can use the TPASS in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli.

Taichung, Changhua, Nantou, Miaoli / 中彰投苗

Price:
- NT$699: Taichung residents
- NT$999: Non-residents
Where to Buy: Any convenience store
Where it’s Usable:Taichung, Changhua, Nantou, Miaoli
Applicable Ticket Types: EasyCard, iPASS, icash 2.0

Taichung MRT	Taiwan Railways
City bus	Highway bus
YouBike

Where you can use the TPASS in Central Taiwan.

Southern Taiwan / 南高屏

Price: NT$999
Where to Buy: MeNGo website or app, Kaohsiung MRT station, and any convenience store
- Or the following bus stations in Pingtung: Hengchun, Donggang, Fangliao, and Pingtung
Where it’s Usable: Kaohsiung City, Pingtung County, and Tainan City
Applicable Ticket Type: iPASS (second-generation)

Transportation	Details
YouBike	Free for 30 minutes.
City Bus	All city buses within supported areas.
TRA	Houbi Station <-> Fangshan Station
LRT	Kaohsiung Light Rail (LRT)
Ferry	Gushan <-> Cijin & Qianzhen <-> Zhongzhou
Intercity Bus	All intercity buses within supported areas.
MRT	Kaohsiung MRT

Where you can use the TPASS in Southern Taiwan.

Chiayi / 嘉義

Price: NT$399
Where to Buy: Any convenience store
Where it’s Usable:Chiayi
Applicable Ticket Types: EasyCard, icash 2.0, iPASS

Taiwan Railways	Highway bus	City bus
YouBike

Where you can use the TPASS in Chiayi.

Taipei, New Taipei, Yilan / 北宜

Price: NT$1,800
Where to Buy:
- Yilan: Luodong transfer stations, Yilan Jiaoxi
- Taipei and New Taipei: Banqiao station, Science and Technology Building MRT station, Taipei City Hall station, Nangang station
Where it’s Usable: New Taipei, Taipei, and Yilan
Applicable Ticket Types: iPASS, EasyCard

Transportation	Details
Taiwan Railway Association	Pingxi Line stations, Shenzhen-Ao Line, Yilan Hanben station <-> Yingge Station
Buses	Buses in Yilan county
Intercity Buses	Beiyi

Where you can use the TPASS in Taipei, New Taipei, Yilan.

Here’s the Pricing in Different Regions

Here’s the pricing for the TPASS throughout different areas, starting in Northern and Eastern Taiwan:

Region	Price (Lasts 30 Days)
Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan	NT$1,200
Keelung	NT$288
Taipei-Yilan	NT$1,800
Yilan County	NT$750
Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli	NT$1,200
Taoyuan-Hsinchu	NT$799
Hsinchu-Miaoli	NT$699
Hsinchu City	NT$288

TPASS prices in Northern Taiwan.

Central Taiwan:

Region	Notes (Important)	Price (Lasts 30 Days)
Taichung, Changhua, Nantou, Miaoli	Taichung resident	NT$699
Taichung, Changhua, Nantou, Miaoli	Non-resident	NT$999
Taichung City	Taichung Resident	NT$299
Taichung City	Non-resident	NT$599
Yunlin County	NA	NT$199
Chiayi County	NA	NT$399

TPASS prices in Central Taiwan.

Southern Taiwan:

Region	Notes (Important)	Price (Lasts 30 Days)
Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung	NA	NT$999
Tainan City	Including TRA	NT$399
Tainan City	Excluding TRA	NT$299
Pingtung County	Including TRA	NT$399
Pingtung County	Excluding TRA	NT$299

TPASS prices in Southern Taiwan.

Eastern Taiwan:

Region	Notes (Important)	Price (Lasts 30 Days)
Hualien County	Including Hualien-Taitung bus	NT$399
Hualien County	Excluding Hualien-Taitung bus	NT$199
Taitung County	NA	NT$299

TPASS prices in Eastern Taiwan

All the passes for smaller areas will work with city/county-wide inner- and intercity/highway buses, YouBike rentals, and Taiwan Railway Association (TRA) trains. There are restrictions with using the TRA, I’ll cover those later.

It took 20 minutes for me to wrap my head around the pricing, but it does seem practical. Considering it’s for commuters and not tourists.

The North’s card may seem expensive, but it’s much cheaper than the previous model (NT$1,280), which had unlimited MRT and bus rides in only New Taipei and Taipei cities. Plus, with the TPASS, you get the TRA access.

How to Buy It

To get the TPASS Easy Card, One Card, or icash 2.0, you must pay NT$100 for an empty card before paying one of the rates in the above table.

tpass scaled — *This is what all TPASS cards look like.*

Do I Need to Buy a TPASS Card to Purchase a Commuter Pass?

You can also use your existing EasyCard, iPASS, or icash 2.0 to set up a commuter pass. However, the Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, and Taoyuan monthly passes only use EasyCard.

The Taichung, Changhua, Nantou, and Miaoli monthly passes can use EasyCard, iPASS, or icash2.0. The Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung monthly passes can only use iPASS MeNGo cards. The government will gradually add cards in the future.

Taiwan Railways and public bicycles temporarily do not accept icash 2.0 monthly passes since they don’t generally accept icash.

Existing EasyCard regular cards, EasyCard student cards, and co-branded EasyCards can all purchase specific commuter passes. However, you cannot use cards such as senior citizen cards and love and care cards.

The Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung monthly pass requires the use of iPASS second-generation cards with the following designs:

TPASS Tainan/Kaohsiung/Pingtung
MeN Go general card
iPASS digital student card second-generation (with “IPass PLUS” on the back).

How to Add More Money

Refill your TPASS’ balance by visiting customer service counters or kiosks at metro, train, and bus stations.

How to Use it

Purchase and set up the pass at the designated commuter pass sales points (MRT, Taiwan Railways, bus stations, etc.) announced by each city and county.

Activate within 30 days after purchase by tapping the card on the automatic gate at the following stations or when entering these modes of transportation:

MRT stations
Buses
Highway buses
Intercity buses
Light rail ticket machines

The validity period is 30 consecutive days starting from the date of activation.

TPASS EasyCard uses the new generation SuperCard. By becoming a member of Easy Wallet. Thus, you can buy commuter passes online directly through the Easy Wallet APP on your mobile phone.

For iPASS MeNGo cards, new purchases or renewals of monthly passes on the website/APP require a card setup at Kaohsiung MRT station service counters, 7-11 ibon, or TPASS service centers before use.

Taiwan Railway Association Usage & Rules

Unlimited rides on local (express) trains, Chu-Kuang Express, and PP Push-Pull Tzu-Chiang Limited Express are allowed.

However, you can’t use the pass on the following tourist trains:

Taroko Express
Puyuma Express
3000 series Tzu-Chiang Limited Express
Other designated trains (exclusive or non-reserved seat trains)

The commuter pass has restrictions on the entry and exit stations, and passengers cannot exceed or transfer beyond the designated usage area. If the entry or exit station is not within the usage area, the full fare will be deducted from the electronic ticket.