Transport: More Maglev ... less Bund Tourist Tunnel?

Lots of juicy transportation news today:

• A new displacement order has been released by the Xujiahui Housing, Land and Resource Administration Bureau which is likely related to work on an extension of the Maglev to Hongqiao Airport.
• At the ongoing Shanghai People's Congress, representative Lei Guofen submitted a proposal asking that the commercial advertisements after stop names announced on metro cars (including the ubiquitous and therefore infamous Christine Bakery) be replaced by announcments of "public and cultural value". Public opinion seems to support the measure, and since the source (newspaper article) as usual does no investigation into how businesses get their names into the announcements hints of corruption naturally sprout during the discussion. One commenter notes that Line 3's most common "sponsor" is Lening Education Center.
• Other random ideas coming out of the People's Congress: cheaper commutes through discounts on transfers, and discounts for the elderly and students; instituting American-style free schoolbuses for students; having bicycle rentals near light rail and subway stations; lowering the price of an A/C bus ride from RMB 2 to RMB 1, and 50% off transfers; and partners of the Metro company could issue discounted fare cards.
• Plans are already being made to change the Bund Tourist Tunnel into a large-capacity public transportation tunnel. If things can be worked out between the several parties involved, and more cars will be outfitted, the journey will be shortened, and the price will be dropped in hopes of moving more people across the river through the tunnel and decreasing some of the congestion on the Metro Line 2.

Cross-posted at the Shanghai Public Transportation blog.

Photo of Bund Tourist Tunnel by Jukkinen.