• Asian airports continue to be awesome: Passengers ranked Shanghai International Hongqiao Airport at 27th among 171 airports worldwide in the most recent survey conducted by the Airport Council International (ACI), upping it two spots from 2010.
• Tired of being stuck in queue with crying babies and rude elbows? Well, sigh no more: Now you can hire a professional to do it for you for around 20 RMB an hour..
• Talks of a taxi fare increase have been circulating around Shanghai for months. Now, they're just trying to decide how to do it. At a public hearing on Monday, the majority of participants preferred adding 1 RMB to the original flag-down fee of 12 RMB, rather than raising the per/km fee from 2.4 RMB to 2.7 RMB after the first 3 km.

According to Shanghai Daily, currently being considered is a "flexible taxi rate" that would charge more during rush hours and have cheaper rates for quieter times. By introducing these new rates, the Shanghai Taxi Bureau is hoping to improve taxi service efficiency while relieving downtown road congestion. The plan's still in the "feasibility study" stage and no proposed price points have been announced, but taxi drivers seem to already be getting worried. "I doubt whether extra income from peak-time service can cover losses from reduced fares in slack periods," one cabbie told the paper. more ›

The city traffic authorities now have an electronic map about local traffic information online located at www.jt.sh.cn/shanghaimap/index.html. It's supposed to give out info on subways, railways, long-distance bus stations, airports and roughly 77 local tourism sites PLUS booking numbers of local taxi companies and regular cab fares. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work quite right yet. The site has a lot of links, but most of them do nothing when you click on them. So uh... here's some links you can use instead to calculate your taxi fare, figure out subway lines and understand bus routes. You're welcome. more ›

Shanghai is a big ol' place, and so traversing it by taxi is often the quickest, if most costly, option. To lessen the scary surprises given out by the taxi meters, you can now calculate your fare online. Thanks to this new application from Kuber, you simply type in your departure location and destination, and you'll be given the exact distance and approximate fare. Forward planners, unite! more ›

Shanghai Daily is shouting that taxi cabs are now going to be more expensive. Starting from October 11th, the floor price will be raised from the 11RMB/3KM we've been used to all these years to a wallet-busting 12RMB/3KM. The stretch cabbies drive after that 3KM floor will be increased to 2.40RMB, from its original 2.10RMB per km. There was never a better time to learn how to ride the bus. more ›