The Metro: Vending machines, service centers and a Flash map

Those of you in the know may have heard that new ticketing machines are making an appearance on the Shanghai Metro system. Yesterday, Shanghaiist passed through the Century Park station and witnessed two new ticket vending machines that include the option to recharge your stored-value card straight from your bank card, unpacked but not yet in use. Awesome. These new machines are being added at selected stations around the city.

Also, a big local Party meeting is happening in Shanghai right now and issues being brought up include public transportation. The main thrust seems to be that city Party reps want to 1) promote public transportation use by 2) making it cheaper. Ideas include going forward with the idea of discounts on transfers between buses (currently being tested on certain Yan'an Rd bus lines), and buses and metro, and looking into instituting a variegated pricing scheme like the one on London's Metro system, which has weekend and montly tickets, student and child tickets, rush-hour and off-peak tickets, etc.

John of Sinosplice.com took a picture of a new appearance at the Huangpi Rd metro stop:

His comment: "In the Huangpi Nan Lu subway (Metro) station there's this new 'service center.' You can't buy tickets there. What's the point??" If you ask us, HK envy is the point...

And finally a very cool Flash map of the Shanghai subway by Matt Mayer of the Dining Philosophers:

http://www.exploreshanghai.com/metro/

Cross posted at the Shanghai Public Transportation blog.