City sees surge in transportation numbers

Shanghai has seen a surge in overall transportation over the past year, with daily passenger numbers around 57 million, the city’s transport bureau said during a video conference on Thursday.

According to the 2019 annual report, the number of passenger cars in Shanghai last year grew by over 5 percent to 5.4 million, an increase slower than the previous year.

Followed by a higher congestion rate, the average morning and evening peak congestion index increased by 2 percent and 3 percent year on year respectively.

The daily number of Metro passengers continued to climb to reach more than 10 million.

Passenger numbers for the Hongqiao Transportation Hub reached 420 million in 2019, with a daily figure of over 1 million.

With deeper connections in the Yangtze River Delta, the number of railway arrivals and departures between Shanghai and other cities in the region increased to 446,000.

Between the railway connecting Kunshan in Jiangsu Province and Huaqiao Station on Shanghai Metro Line 11, statistics show that half of the passengers on workdays are commuters before 9am.

Shanghai also saw a boost in new energy vehicles last year, with more than 300,000 new energy vehicles being promoted, with plug-in hybrids accounting for 67 percent and pure electric vehicles accounting for 33 percent.

By the end of 2019, the city had a total of 11,000 new energy buses and nearly 1,900 new energy taxis were added.

Meanwhile, as an international shipping center, the container throughput of Shanghai ports reached over 43 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit), claimed first place in the world for the 10th consecutive year.