How do you get a taxi?
Short answer
Flag a yellow cab on the street — the meter does the rest. There is even an English-language hotline, 0800-055-850, that orders one for you.
Yellow, metered, everywhere
Taiwan's taxis are yellow, carry meters, and calculate the fare from distance and time. A small red light in the windscreen marks a cab free for hire, and street hailing remains completely normal here — no app required.
In Taipei the arithmetic is published by the city itself: NT$70 covers the first 1.25 kilometres, then NT$5 for each 250 metres, with NT$5 per minute of slow crawling below 5km/h. The meter applies it so you do not have to.
The predictable extras
Late night carries a published surcharge: from 11pm to 6am an extra NT$20 rides on top of the metered fare. Highway tolls, where a route uses them, are also the passenger's.
These are printed rules rather than negotiations. If a driver proposes a flat price for an ordinary city trip, the polite response is to point at the meter.
When language is the obstacle
The tourism administration runs a Safe Taxi Service hotline for exactly this: dial 0800-055-850 — or 55850 from a mobile — and order a cab in English.
For everything else the universal tricks hold: show the destination written in Chinese, and carry the hotel's card for the trip back. Cash is always accepted, and receipts are available on request.
Good to know
- A red light in the windscreen means the cab is free
- 11pm–6am adds NT$20 to the meter
- 0800-055-850 (55850 from mobile) orders a taxi in English
Raise a hand at any vacant taxi, or queue at a station rank. A red sign in the windscreen means it is free.
Through an app. Beijing's own guidance says waving at the kerb is so obsolete it barely works — DiDi, with an English interface, is how rides happen.
Insist on the meter — switching it off for a fixed price is illegal, and 1584 is the government hotline for reporting it. Tuk-tuks have no meter, so that price is negotiated before you get in.
By brand, not by chance: the tourism board names the reputable metered firms — Mai Linh in green, Vinasun in white, Taxi Group in Hanoi — and the apps work if you have a local SIM.
Apps do most of the work. Street hailing works, but a driver may pass on a destination they do not fancy.