Taipei City Government

The spanking-new Taipei City Hall Bus Station had its launch in August. Located in Xinyi District, a beehive of vehicles and commercial activities, this facility will equal Taipei Main Station in importance. It serves as a hub connecting the island's inter-city buses,city buses, and MRT systems, at the same time also serving shopping and other functions. On the first basement level, there is a designated taxi pick-up area, which does much to relieve street-level traffic congestion in the immediate area. The station has immediately brought a boom to the east district's business activities and become a new landmark.

The station is an advanced multi-function building that has 31 floors above ground and five below. It has a steel structure, and all transfer facilities are located on the first level. Department-store outlets are found from the second underground level to the 7th floor, and hotels are located from the 8th right up to the 31st floor. Go to the 2nd floor and you'll be able to enjoy an outdoor platform with attractive plants and water landscaping, giving the building and surroundings the look and feel of an urban oasis. The station is at the moment serving 14 inter-city bus companies offering 19 routes, bringing all of these companies' stations, formerly all located within 500 meters of the new station, under one roof. Whatever your transport needs, this facility will accommodate them—bus service, MRT trains, buses to other counties and cities, even express buses to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport ,hooking you up with cities around the world. This is a transit center of broad ambition, operating on the largest of scales.

Beyond its key role in shouldering transit traffic, another key function of the new facility is to serve as a portal to the Xinyi commercial district. In this area of concentrated premium-quality business enterprise, you will find a collection of five-star international hotels, four large-scale Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department-store outlets, the eslite bookstore flagship outlet, Taipei 101, and the Vieshow Cinemas complex.The attractions are myriad, the reasons why shoppers and people on business stream into the enclave obvious.

Not too far down the road, in October, another reason will come online at the very top of the station, the Uni-President Hankyu Department Store positioning itself as an OL (Office Lady) women's fashion department store. The newopening news will then keep on coming, with two more five-star international hotels scheduled to throw open their doors at the end of the year: the W Hotel Taipei will be located right inside the City Hall Bus Station on the 8th through 31st floors, and Le Meridien Taipei will open nearby. The two are sure to draw even more daytrippers and travelers to the district.

The reports on things new do not stop here,however. An underground pedestrian pathway now connects the new bus station, MRT City Hall Station, and Taipei City Hall. It stretches more than 300 meters, running between Zhongxiao E. Rd. and Songgao Rd. . The north end is linked with the MRT station, the south with Taipei City Hall and President Enterprise Corporation Tower . Movement through the area to handle affairs with government offices,attend events in the plaza fronting City Hall, or head off a bit further above-ground for shopping and entertainment is now even faster and more comfortable, with the hot sun, wind, and rain no
longer a bother. In the future, shops will line both sides of the tunnel, with business hours matching the operating hours of the MRT system, 5 am to 1 am each day. This city is systematically making the life of the pedestrian more pleasant, and this is one more example.