 The planned total cost for the project is NT$51.39 billion (including land acquisition costs), which is split between the local and central government.The Taichung City Government cites LRT being five times cheaper to build than MRT, and BRT in turn being five times cheaper than LRT.For this reason, the first MRT line in Taichung is being built as an elevated line (as opposed to underground), and future lines are planned to be built as BRT with the possibility of later upgrading to grade-separated modes of transit.