Carpool lanes in operation from Thursday
The first high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes in Shanghai will be put into use from Thursday, the city's transport commission said on Wednesday.
Such lanes were first introduced in the US in the 1960s to increase traffic capacity by encouraging carpooling as the lanes typically allow only vehicles with more than one passenger.
The first HOV lanes in Shanghai are on Huyi Highway in Jiading District and is around 8 kilometers in length from the highway's intersection with Chenxiang Highway to Yecheng Road, one lane in each direction.
Monday to Friday, from 7am to 10am and from 4pm to 7pm, the lanes allow only buses and cars carrying at least two people, including the driver.
This means that apart from private cars, taxis carrying at least one passenger and school buses can use the lanes at those times, but trucks will be banned.
The rules don't apply at other times.
The lanes are separated from neighboring lanes by yellow dotted lines, and on the ground they're marked in Chinese as "bus-only lane and high-occupancy vehicle lane."
The transport commission said the purpose of the lanes was to give traffic priority to buses and vehicles with more passengers, relieving traffic congestion and reducing pollution.
The commission said the first lanes were introduced on Huyi Highway because there were fewer public buses in this part of Shanghai than in downtown districts, so that allowing vehicles other than buses might make the lanes more useful and efficient.
Breaking the lane rules will incur a fine of 100 yuan (US$14), the commission said.
Traffic police are said to have installed digital cameras at multiple spots along the lanes to take pictures at passing vehicles from multiple angles to judge the number of people in them. Officers will also step up patrols in that part of Huyi Highway to catch offenders.
Such lanes may be introduced in other parts of the city, but decisions will be made based on the results of the Huyi Highway trial as well as the traffic situation elsewhere, the commission said.