Metro manners survey

• Source: Global Times
• [08:35 August 10 2010]
• Comments

A typical scene of commuters failing to leave the left sides of escalators clear during rush hour at People's Square Station Monday. Photo: Cai Xianmin

By Chen Xiaoru

Research into manners on the subway that ranked Shanghai South Railway Station as the worst for passenger behavior has been challenged by experts for its unsound methodology.

The student affairs office of Fudan University published a report Monday that gave scores to 60 of Shanghai's 280 subway stations based on how well passengers at the stations acted.

The report found that Shanghai West Railway Station had the most well-behaved passengers. People's Square Station, a major interchange that is notorious for its large crowds, ranked 26.

"We sent seven groups of students to 60 major subway stations to observe passenger behavior and assign scores in seven categories based on civility, including 'rushing to the doors when the alert sounds,' 'standing on the right side of the escalator' and 'cooperating with security inspections,'" the head of the research project, Tao Weishuo, told the Global Times Monday.

In addition to the observations made by the research teams, 1,000 passengers were polled about subway behavior. Half agreed that manners on the subway were "much improved" since the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai opened in May.

However, Xu Ruihua, professor from the school of transportation engineering of Tongji University, said that the research fell far short of scientific standards.

"The research was carried out at only 60 stations. However, there are around 280 in the city now. I do not think the researchers gathered enough examples," Xu said.

Gu Xiaoming, a professor at Fudan University, told the Global Times that it is difficult to evaluate passenger manners with such a system.

"It is misleading to set the seven categories for evaluation. I strongly suspect that the research organizers knew the results they would come to from the very beginning," Gu said.

Although subway authorities refused to comment on the value of the research, Yin Wei, a press officer for the subway operating company, admitted that passenger manners have "a lot of room for improvement."