Getting around: Maglev hours, smoke-free taxis, Googling buses, and subway swaps

News tidbits from the public transportation world:

• Maglev hours are being extended to match the operating hours of the Metro Line 2, opening at 6:45am and closing at 9:30pm. In 2005 the high-speed train extended its hours in a bid to snag more passengers; this time the move comes as it rides a new wave of popularity.
• Shanghai's Dazhong Taxi is following the city of Beijing's footsteps and declaring all of its taxis to be "smoke-free zones". The ban on smoking is intended to cut down on drivers lighting up, more than on passengers. Look for brand new "No Smoking" stickers on plastic partitions in the green taxis around town.
• Google Labs China released a public transportation route search last month, covering the cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Hangzhou. This puts them in competition with Baidu and DDmap, producers of the two leading Chinese bus route search tools on the net.
• Following the week-long National Day holiday, the Shanghai Shentong Metro company has pulled all ten Bombardier-manufactured trains off of Line 1 in anticipation of the opening of Line 9 by the end of this year. According to company spokespersons, the trains will not be missed because of the continued addition of refitted 8-car trains to Line 1. Line 9 will run from Songjiang to Guilin Rd, then continue through Xujiahui and into Pudong once phase two is completed in 2008.

Cross-posted at the Shanghai Public Transportation weblog.