Members of the upcoming top government advisory body meeting are suggesting the city government improve local suburban areas' transport by incorporating illegal taxi services and allowing car pooling practices.

Shanghai Committee of the China Democratic National Construction Association put forward a proposal to the upcoming meeting of the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference this month about transport service deficiencies in the city's suburban areas.

Committee members said most buses in the suburbs stopped at about 5pm, too early for many commuters.

As most bus routes are designed to connect the downtown area and suburban districts, it turned out to be hard for people to travel between two rural places. It was also inconvenient for suburban residents who live a couple of kilometers away from bus or Metro stations to get to the public transport facilities.

"A noticeable phenomenon is that many fly-by-night vehicle operators have noticed the absence of service and are cashing in," said Chen Hailin, a committee official.

To eliminate the safety risks that unlicensed vehicle operators pose, the committee suggest the city government incorporate them into the public transport system. "That can not only solve social problems brought by illegal car owners, but ease transport pressures as well," Chen said.

Committee officials added that Shanghai should also give a green light to car pooling.

But the traffic law enforcement authority said they were treating private car owners offering "pure" car pooling leniently. "We understand the difference between those who rely on this illegal cab business for regular income and the car owners who pick up people who happen to share the same route or offer car pooling to a bunch of residents living in the same neighborhood," said Wu Runyuan, a spokesman for the non-police law enforcement team.

The team has already been promoting a program to take formerly illegal cabs into authorized taxi fleets in suburban areas, he said.

(Shanghai Daily January 22, 2008)