There is usually a time schedule posted at each bus stop and we do take pictures of them to time our departure and return. They even have a website that tells you where the bus is and what time it will arrive at your stop like the picture below shows. They are pretty accurate in the morning, but by afternoon and evening, that's when our relationships change. They are usually late, or very late. One evening when we were coming home from Church, we barely missed the bus. The next bus was due in half an hour so we just waited; it did not come. We waited another half an hour and then the bus came. Needless to say, we were very irritated. Most of them only come every 30 minutes, making the trip very time consuming. On weekends, they might even skip the ones we were waiting for...well, so it seems. After being stood up a few times, we went ahead and got a cell phone with an internet connection to see when the buses are coming. It helps sometimes, but when it's really hot and we are really tired, the bus never comes on time, like Murphy's law. Most people ride scooters, even old people, because they are free spirited people here and don't want to be tied down with waiting for buses. With the inexpensive fares, and scarcity of parking spaces, one might think more people would rely on buses, but people are too impatient to wait for them. It's hard to grow the public transportation system here. The capital city of Taipei, unlike Gaoxiong, has excellent public transportation system. We never have to wait for more than a few minutes for the buses when we are in Taipei. They also have very well developed MRT system.
As you can see from this map, it only covers part of the city, even though it's very convenient if you happened to be going to where it goes. The cost is about US $1.40 to $2 per ride, but half of that for us seniors. The waiting is usually no more than 3-4 minutes. We like the system, but it doesn't take us to the local churches. But if we go to the outlying areas, then, it's a much faster way to travel. 
Taiwan Rail Road System: There are three types of trains that go around the island. We use this for short distance travels as the train stations are usually in the middle of town. For us to travel from Gaoxiong to Tainan (my hometown), we can either take the slow train, which takes about an hour and costs US$1 (half price), or Express train that takes 32 minutes and costs less than US$2 (half price) for us. The in-between train takes about 45 minutes. They come about every 15-30 minutes.
Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR): This is our favorite and runs along the west coast of Taiwan. It takes 90 minutes for us to travel from Gaoxiong to Taipei at a speed sometimes travelling 220 miles/hour. It's quiet, comfortable and affordable. Since we are seniors, it costs US$50 for the 2 or us one way. Traveling up north is not a problem for us. We usually take a bus outside of our apartment, go 2 stops, transfer to MRT, then THSR. We can make this in half an hour from our new apartment. If we are running late, then we take a taxi which costs around US$5. Not bad, is it?
We love THSR. They are never late. One had better be on time to catch it. They come every 30 minutes to Taipei (2 stops), or every other 30 minutes which stops at 5 stops and takes about 2 hours to get to Taipei, the Capital city.
As senior missionaries, we are not allowed to ride scooters or motorcycles. To purchase a car can be an option too, but our Mission told us that we would do better with public transportation and with taxis as parking is almost always a problem, and we would need to pay an additional US $100 for a parking space in our apartment complex per month. Every time when we have to wait for the buses in the hot sun or in the rain, we re-think about this last option. So far we are managing without a car. If you ever lived in Taiwan, you know how crazy the traffic is. We see accidents almost every day when we go out, most of the time the scooters are involved because a lot of them do not obey traffic laws.
We do have members that offer us rides from time to time. But most members ride scooters to church. When we go to visit wards and branches outside of the Gaoxiong area, we ride with our Family History director and two assistants. We make a pretty good 5-people team to share our testimonies of family history and do family tree training sessions during Sunday church blocks. It has been a testimony building time for us, and we are blessed to have the opportunities to serve the people here.
