'Countdown' traffic lights make Shanghai debut

Shanghaiist has seen "countdown"-style traffic lights elsewhere in China, most-recently on our drive to Moganshan last weekend (it was our first time behind the wheel in China, and for the most part, despite some annoyances -- people using the shoulder as a lane, etc. -- it was fine). Anyway, the tick-tick-tick stopwatch-style lights Shanghai pedestrians have become accustomed to are now being tried out on the city's drivers, who, incidentally, are supposed to yield to pedestrians. We learned that during our driver's test. We also learned that drivers in China aren't supposed to smoke. Ha!

From the story in the Jiefang Daily:

The new lights, which look like ordinary traffic lights, countdown the 20 seconds between green and red lights, indicating when the lights will change next.

Now the devices can be seen at the intersections of Changshou Road and Changhua Road, Jiangning Road and Changping Road, Huaihai Road and Danshui Road, and Jinling Road and Chongqing Road.

A taxi driver surnamed Ge said the new light tell him how many seconds are left until the green light changes into red. He will have an idea if he can pass the crossroad and therefore not hastily accelerate his car.

We have a feeling Mr. Ge is the exception and not the rule. Most drivers will see the clocks as a challenge -- "Beat the Clock" doesn't sound like a very pedestrian-friendly game to us.

In other Shanghai transportation news:

• From the Shanghai Daily: "The final four stations on Shanghai Metro Line 4 - delayed by a tunnel cave-in three years ago - will finally go into operation next year, completing a huge circle around the Huangpu River, a city official said yesterday."
• From Xinhua: "Shanghai Metropolis plans to build six urban rail transportation lines in the next three years to facilitate traffic flow."
• Also from Xinhua: "More than 70 percent of the components used in the Beijing-Shanghai express railway will be made in China, Vice Minister of Railways Sun Yongfu said in the interview with a local newspaper in Beijing."
• Finally, 10 members of "China's top advisory board" have proposed the country put a stop to Golden Week holidays. They want May Day holiday to be one day instead of one week. They want National Day holiday to go from a week down to two days. We though this move might have something to do with transportation -- like not wanting to force a strain on China's mass transit systems by only allowing 1.3 billion people to travel at exact same time each year -- but no, it's all about not interrupting China's business production. Evidently, "February to June and September to November are the two peak seasons for the countries’ production, and the most active periods of the stock market." In fact, the advisors simply suggest the May Day golden week be moved to July and they actually think Spring Festival should be extended.