Shanghai China Snippets Observations about living in Shanghai and China in general

February 6, 2006

Taxi Economics | Shanghai Pudong Airport

Filed under: Shanghai Life — Shanghai @ 2:08 am

While the clash of civilizations is continuing I went to the Bus station near the Jing An Temple.

I used to take taxis to the [tag]Shanghai[/tag] [tag]Pudong Airport[/tag] or the [tag]Maglev[/tag] but the [tag]Airport[/tag] Bus No. 2 is the most convenient and a lot cheaper as well. A [tag]taxi[/tag] costs about 150 Kuai, a one-way bus trip 19 Rmb.

There was still some time left before the bus would depart so I smoked a cigarette. Two guys standing next to the bus starting to chat and tried to convince me to take a taxi. A taxi that was parked next to the Airport bus.

I friendly declined their offer, explained that the difference between 150 Rmb and 19 Rmb is significant so they gave up. It was only now that I realized that one of the 2 guys was actually the bus driver. Mmmm, a bus driver wanted me to take a taxi while the bus would go anyway.

A girl arrived and the guys started to tout their services and at first it seemed she would decline too. I finished my cigarette and just as I was about to get on the bus, when a third probable passenger arrived.

Some talk and suddenly we were all directed to the taxi by the bus driver, three strangers destined to share a cab for 20 Kuai each to Pudong Airport. One kuai more than the bus fare.

I guess the bus driver preferred driving an empty bus and get some kickback from the taxi driver.

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