Results tagged “transportation”

File this under things that can come in handy: Exploremetro (who's intrepid founder became - we think - the first person to visit every station on the Shanghai Metro system in one day earlier this year), has an iPhone app out that details Shanghai's underground. Besides having up-to-date info on line extentions (and free updates when the other lines are finished), the app also allows you to plan routes, communicate bilingually and access the map without internet. Fun!

In a country that was once known as the Kingdom of Bicycles, it's become harder and harder to actually ride one in the increasingly congested traffic. Good news: Shanghai has decided to build a number of new bike paths between major transportation roads and metro stations. In addition, the new bike paths will include an increase in low-cost bicycle rental services, similar to the services offered in Hangzhou. Good for the environment, and way more enjoyable than trying to find a cab during rush hour.

It's finally here! On October 31, the bridge and tunnel linking Chongming Island to Shanghai will open. For all the 700,000 residents of Chongming and those of us mainland folks who venture there, we'll no longer have to rely on the iffy ferry service. Instead, one can get to Chongming from Pudong in just 30 minutes.

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.

Computers that spontaneously combust are old news, but when a whole bus inexplicably catches fire it catches our attention. Nanfang Daily reported that a shuttle bus on its way to Foshan from Panyu burst into flames on the highway, forcing the driver and thirty seven passengers to evacuate the vehicle. But mere fire wasn't enough to stop the inferno bus: once the passengers and driver evacuated, the bus continued on its way towards Foshan for a full kilometer before finally burning out.

This morning, the No.2 line stopped working right in the middle of rush hour. According to one tipster, there were half hour to 40 minute long delays in total trip time with the metro stopping for five to 10 minutes at every stop.

The second phase of Line 9 is set to open before the end of this year, meaning that by January 2010, we'll all be able to hop on a subway at Grand Gateway in Xujiahui and get off at the Pearl Tower in Lujiazui like it ain't no thing! The 14km stretch of track, which will also traverse through Luwan, Huangpu and further out into Pudong, will be completed on July 20. Trains will begin testing for two months after that. Other lines on track for opening before the end of the year include Line 6 and the first phase of Line 11. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the second phase of Metro Line 8 began operation, extending the service from its current terminal at the Chengshan Road Station in Pudong to Minhang's Shanghai Airspace Science Park Station. Source: Shanghai Daily

Sina reports that the city is going to hold a hearing in early July on subway regulations in Shanghai, specifically on issues of whether or not you can bring on food and drink, skateboads, or folding bicycles into the station. There is still too much confusion about what the rules are and how to implement them. The article mentions that if found in violation you could be charged 50-500 RMB fines. We don't know of anyone that has been fined, though one person did get off with a warning after being caught with some kind of drink. Food is prohibited on the Guangzhou and Beijing subway lines. Any readers know of anyone that's been fined? Would you supoort a ban on food? What about skateboards?　How would you feel if you were a hungry skate rat? If you want to speak for skate rats, starved white-collar workers and other oppressed groups, you can do so by being applying to become one of the eight citizens that will be allowed to speak their minds at the hearing. The instructions are here.

Yup, “Shanghai Metro Pole Dancing” is as avant-garde of a public art form as it gets in Shanghai, and faithful subway riders - to their dismay, we hear - have been getting more than they’re paying for.

Under debate right now at the city transportation bureau: whether taxi fees need to be rejiggered. According to Xinmin, the bureau is considering abolishing the “night time fee” since low demand and strong supply was causing passengers to negotiate directly with drivers for lower fares. Instead, they would consider increasing fees during rush hours - a sort of “peak time fee” instead - that would hopefully help decrease demand for taxis during the most crowded parts of the day. The bureau said that since new regulations will effect everybody, they would conduct comprehensive feasibility studies before passing anything.

Those who stayed in the city for the May holiday, did it feel more crowded to you? According to Xinhua, it was - since more than 2.45 million tourists decided to make Shanghai their holiday destination. That's about 20,000 more tourists than last year. Despite the crappy weather, these intrepid travelers trekked out to downtown Puxi, the Pearl Tower and Century Park in droves. Other fun statistics: On May 1, the Shanghai railways handled over 1.27 million passengers, over 2,700 people left from Pudong International Airport on between 7 and 8:30am, and at least 50 people missed their flights because of traffic jams due to road construction.

So we hear a lot of people in China are having trouble getting into our post containing info about how to get to the MIDI Festival in Zhenjiang. Yeah, it's been randomly GFWed, and we have no clue why. But because we love you all, we're going to assume the censorship was a mistake on the internet policepeoples' parts and risk life and limb to re-post the info again. Don't say we never did nothin' for ya.

Shanghai officials have issued a warning against taxi drivers that may be using black market devices to scam passengers. The gidgets, which can be had for "several dozen yuan" either make the meter tick faster or increase the distance traveled.

While we're still a little bummed that the main part of the MIDI Festival this year won't be taking place in Shanghai, we've still worked up enough enthusiasm to make that trek over to Zhenjiang.

Minhang commuters and residents have been enjoying free bike rides for the last two weeks. No its not a rash of bike stealers - in fact, it's actually a new government sponsored program partially intended to curb theft.

Buses are everywhere and go everywhere in this city. But for those of us less familiar with the system, it can be tough to puzzle out which ones we can actually use. Well... did you know that Google Maps now shows exactly where the various bus lines running around the Shanghai area stop? Even though ditu.google.com is in Chinese, it's bound to be a great resource for anyone who lives more than a ten minute walk from a subway station. Hurrah!

Congratulations to Matt Mayer who yesterday became (we believe) the first person to visit every station on the Shanghai Metro system in one day.

Randy Cohen, New York Times "The Ethicist" columnist, might be inclined to think so. Granted, Cohen's anti-auto podcast from last week is about Manhattan, but several of his arguments already seem applicable to Shanghai (and, in 2020, when our city's subway system looks like this, there will be few ethical excuses for owning personal cars in most of Shanghai). Cohen lays out five reasons why cars and Manhattanites shouldn't mix. Here's No. 1: "Cars kill. If you introduced a transportation system by announcing, 'It'll only kill 40,000 people a year,' it's hard to believe it would gain widespread popularity." (The number of "traffic deaths" in China was down to 73,484 in 2008, but up 100 percent over the last 20 years.) Listen to all New York Times podcasts here or subscribe via iTunes. They're all free.

That's what Matt Mayer, the guy behind the ExploreShanghai metro map is trying to do right now. He laid out his plan, and the rules, here, a blog post that finished with: "147 stations, eight lines, one manic Monday. Wish me luck!" You can follow Matt's progress live on Twitter. His last message: "50 shanghai metro stations completed in 3h 7m 33s. Station 50 is west nanjing road. Shame i dont have time to visit marks and spencers :)" You can get in touch with Matt throughout the day. We're sure he'd love to here from you — it's going to be a long, boring Monday.

In this news report from Hunan TV, police opened the luggage compartment of a crowded long-distance bus bringing passengers eager to return home for the Spring Festival and found a huge surprise -- eight people were hidden inside, tucked inconspicuously behind suitcases and packages. With buses and trains fully booked out, and legal tickets hard to come by, some entrepreneurial Chinese bus drivers are welcoming the opportunity to make a quick buck from those desperate enough to get home in time. One young man that was caught in the luggage compartment told reporters that nobody forced them to do this and they were more than willing to travel this way. [h/t Youku Buzz]

Over 2.3 billion passenger trips are expected to be made via land and water transport over the 40 days of the Lunar New Year season. 188 million trips are expected to be made via railway alone, up 8% from last year. As a result of the global economic crisis which saw many factories going under all over China, waves and waves of migrant workers started going home much earlier this year. Where these people will travel to after the Spring Festival remains a big question mark because most of these people still do not know where their next job will be.

• A man and a woman have been killed by a carbon monoxide leak in a downtown Shanghai apartment yesterday morning while two of theirr roommates remain in a coma.
• Taiwan is coordinating with mainland authorities on the possibility of increasing the number of charter flights to and from Shanghai for the convenience of Taiwanese residents looking to go home during the Lunar New Year season.
• North Carolina has opened its seventh foreign trade office in Shanghai. This is the state's second China trade office after Hong Kong.

Danwei directed us to the embedded six-month old video of a short local NBC News piece on a Chinese-made three-wheel "car" available from a dealer in Webster, New York (it's actually available in several places in the U.S., like Michigan). The Webster dealer (we think this is his MySpace page ... yes, MySpace) claims women love the Wildfire WF650-C. The jury is still out on that one.

2012 could be your special year. Construction began yesterday on metro Line 12, which will connect Minhang district with northern Pudong, passing through Xuhui, Luwan, Jing'an, Zhabei, Hongkou and Yangpu along the way. Most eye-popping line: "Nineteen stations on Line 12 will connect with 16 other Metro lines." Line 19 (still in planning stage) being one of them. It doesn't seem too long ago that there were only two metro lines and there would be a mad dash for open seats at Shanghai Railway Station, because that is where Line 1 began. It doesn't seem too long ago, because it wasn't. By 2012, Shanghai is supposed to have 13 metro lines covering 500 kilometers. [Shanghai Daily]

The Explore blog notes that a shuttle bus transfer is no longer required when traveling from Yishan Lu (Lines 3/4) to Guilin Lu (Line 9), or vice-versa. The best Shanghai metro map around has been updated to reflect this change. Have fun on Line 9!

By 2015 it could happen, GoKunming reports. The journey currently takes 37 hours. According to GoKunming, "the Shanghai-Kunming passenger line (沪昆客运专线) will connect Shanghai and Kunming via the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan, passing through the major cities of Hangzhou, Nanchang and Changsha. Its target speed is reportedly 350 km/hr."

WARNING: This video is not for the faint-hearted.

• Top officials are now considering a bailout plan worth RMB800 billion ($116 billion USD) to buy up top Chinese stocks if the Shanghai index falls below 1,500 points. The index closed at 1,859 points yesterday, but has been falling steadily since the beginning of 2008. Diligence China gives us a look at what the country's economy could look like in 18 months.
• Following yesterday's announcement that Beijing will get a boatload of new money to develop its traffic infrastructure, Chinese officials unveiled a new plan to spend RMB5 trillion over the next two years on new roads, rail and airports. Nearly half this money (RMB2.37 trillion) will be spent in Guangdong province.
• Will democracy work in China? Students at the Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangdong give it a try in their student president elections. Ironically, three of the four candidates are Communist Party members.

• Former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian was finally arrested after five hours of questioning over various corruption charges on Tuesday. He has been accused of embezzling of 14.8 million Taiwan dollars (480,500 US) and otherwise using his Presidential powers illegally during his eight year term.
• Five cement factory workers died on the job yesterday when a building in Donghe, Qinghai Province collapsed. Another worker was seriously injured and is in critical condition, but "might still survive", according to doctors. Officially, the building's collapse was not related to the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that rocked the region on Monday.
• Beijing has just committed RMB240 billion ($34 billion USD) to upgrade traffic infrastructure over the next five years. By 2012, the city is expected to have 420km of subway lines up and running. Oh, and that RMB240 billion sum? It's RMB70 billion more than Beijing spent in the five years leading up to the Olympics.

"Although senior citizens would be happier if their family visited more often, they are generally satisfied with their lives in the city, a survey by the Shanghai Quality Association revealed on Monday."