Shanghai city government plans to set up an intelligent transport information center by the end of this year so commuters can get details about traffic jams, and crowding on buses or subways from one office, the Shanghai Engineering Administrative Bureau announced Monday.

The center will provide information about taxis, public buses, subways and the maglev train in Pudong.

By 2010, both local residents and visitors can subscribe to cell phone messages to get timely traffic information while looking for appropriate routes and means to reach their desired destination.

"It will improve the efficiency of coordinating local traffic," Cai Yifeng, a senior engineer with the Shanghai Comprehensive Transport Planning Institute, said Monday.

He explained the city now has separate information centers for taxis, buses, ferries and subways.

As the city's infrastructure advances, however, those centers cannot provide the exact information that people want.

For example, if a visitor wants to travel from Yuyuan Garden to Lujiazui in Pudong, the future intelligent information center will tell him or her which means is the best: subway, bus or taxi depending on traffic along the route and crowding. By 2010, all of the city's public buses and taxis will be equipped with GPS equipment so the center can track their location, direction of travel and speed, officials said.

"By that time, people will be able to quickly call a taxi over the telephone," Cai said.

With 70 million people expected to visit the city in 2010 during the six-month run of the World Expo, the transport intelligent center will be able to provide visitors with the best route to get to Expo pavilions, he said.

(Shanghai Daily September 20, 2005)