Illustration: Lu Ting/GT

Public transportation authorities will put two shuttle bus lines into operation at rush hours today in an effort to reduce the pressure on the city's two most crowded metro lines - Line 6 and Line 8.

Last Thursday, Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, the city's subway operator, installed a kind of zigzag pathway system outside the Dongjing Road Station on Line 6 and the Yangsi Station on Line 8 to slow the flow of passengers during morning rush hour. Because both stations are located near large residential complexes, there are so many passengers in the morning that the trains are often full by the time they depart, leaving no room for passengers at subsequent stations. Shentong Metro said its goal was to make it easier for passengers at the next stations to use the metro.

Still, the change did not happen without a few hiccups. On the first day it took commuters at Yangsi Station more than 20 minutes to make their way through zigzag pathways.

"It reminds me of the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, which I never queued to get into, yet now I'm forced to experience the same thing at the metro!" one microblogger joked.

Fortunately, the authorities took heed of the public's complaints. The next day, Shentong Metro shortened the pathway from 280 meters to 200 meters, cutting the time it takes waiting in line by 10 minutes. On Monday, Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port Authority held a meeting with bus companies and urged them to send shuttle buses to run along the subway lines to take some of the pressure off the system. So far, 30 out of the metro's 280 stations have already adopted the crowd control measures, including those on lines 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 11.

Although the subway operator is claiming success, I wonder if there wasn't a better solution. The metro will no longer be as convenient as passengers expect if they have to wait for a long time to reach the platform.

After adding new metro lines, I think the authority should shorten train intervals and add trains as needed to improve the efficiency of existing lines. The goal should be to transport commuters faster, not delay them in a maze of pathways.

For new lines, authorities should abandon the smaller trains as to avoid problems caused by the smaller metro cars on lines 6 and 8.

Shanghai's transportation and port authorities should lead a joint effort among the different public transit authorities. Nearly 6.70 million people take the subway daily now, triple the number of four years ago. Meanwhile, the number of bus riders is shrinking. If bus companies work with subway operators to provide shuttle bus service alongside busy lines, it can take some of the pressure off the system.

Most importantly, the city should make more effort to build a comprehensive public transit system. Bus-only lanes should be built and more buses should be purchased, so that passengers don't wholly rely on the subway. It doesn't make sense for a large and growing population to rely solely on one form of transportation.