MRT boom still a dream for business

Many store owners said that the MRT brought in people but not customers. Only the first shop on the entrance of each station and nearby shops featuring big window displays appear to have benefited from the MRT.

Chiu Chin-yi (|黃R宜), an analyst at the 21st Century, said the phenomenon can be attributed to expensive land prices as a result of "high expectations of the MRT."

For example, the land for stores in the Chunghsiao Fuhsing station cost around NT$1.50 to NT$2.5 million per ping (a ping equals 3.31 square meters) with monthly rental prices range from NT$8,000 to NT$25,000 per ping. Consequently, the average return rate is squeezed to the range of 0.32 percent to 1.67 percent.

Bus

Bus operators have been the hardest hit by the MRT era. A manager at the Hsintien Bus Co (新店客1B) says the company suffered heavy losses following the opening of the Tamshui line and has decided to cancel two bus lines running between Hsintien to Tamshui.

"Before the launch of the Tamshui line, our daily revenue is nearly NT$200,000. But, now, it has shrunk to only NT$100,000," she said, adding that the profitability of the company's buses decreased after the MRT opened, dropping from NT$7,000 a day in the past to NT$5,000 a day now.

In light of its painful exper-ience, the company decided to shorten routs running from Hsintien to Taipei on the first day of the Hsintien line's operation. "This time, we decided to become MRT transit buses and not to compete head-to-head against the MRT," she said.

Many of the MRT's peppiest cheerleaders have admitted that the system has proven to be the world's most expensive public transportation system per kilometer -- as the 48km line is expected by the Taipei City Government to have racked up costs of NT$440 billion following completion of the Nankang line in December.

However, a TRTC official says, "it's worth it because the benefits brought by the MRT will be greater than that."