New Taipei children to receive 50% discount on MRT fares

新北兒童可以享受捷運票價5折的優惠

Children between 6 and 12 who reside in New Taipei City will be eligible for 50% discounts on the MRT and buses starting early in 2018


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- In order to safeguard the rights of children to ride the MRT, New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) today (Dec. 27) announced that children living the city will become eligible for a 50 percent discount on MRT and bus fares in Taipei City and New Taipei City.

Chu said that as long as they are residents of New Taipei City, children between the ages of 6 and 12 will be eligible for the 50 percent discount, with up to 190,000 children to benefit from the new policy, which is expected to go into effect at some point in the first half of 2018.

Based on the Children And Juvenile Welfare Law (兒童及少年福利法), public transport should provide discounts to children, but the current Taipei Metro system charges children 6 and up the same fare as adults. Chu said that the 50 percent discount will be implemented in order to meet the requirements of this law and that the Department of Transportation, Department of Education, and Department of Social Welfare will coordinate with the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC) on implementing the discounted fares by the first half of 2018.

In addition to the Taipei MRT, Chu said that the Taoyuan and Kaohsiung MRT corporations will be asked to also provide the discount to children who are New Taipei residents, with his city government subsidizing the reduced fares. Chu said that in the future, discounted fares will also be provided for New Taipei children riding the Danhai, Sanying and Ankeng light rail lines.

Taipei City recently announced it would provide a 40 percent discount to children of the metropolis riding the MRT in 2018.

In general, young children can ride the MRT for free until they are both over 115 cm in height and 6 years of age. If they are already over 115 cm in height, but not yet 6 years old, they must provide identification to prove their age.