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14 <br />

Shanghai and Delhi are two Asian megacities that have built metro<br />

systems for mass transit.<br />

The Shanghai Metro System. Shanghai is the largest city in the<br />

People’s Republic of China, spanning approximately 120 kilometers<br />

(km) from south to north and 100 km from east to west. It has a<br />

2009 population of 19.21 million. In the 10 years to 2000, the<br />

length of the city’s roads increased by 40% and the number of cars<br />

rose to just over 1 million. By the end of 2000, Shanghai had 12,227<br />

km of roads, 84% more than in 1985. However, as the majority of<br />

people rely on public transport, the buses were very crowded and<br />

slow, averaging only 8 km per hour.<br />

The city invested an average of 2.9% of its gross domestic product<br />

annually during 1999–2009 in transport infrastructure, 41% of which<br />

was for constructing the Shanghai Metro. Construction started in the<br />

early 1990s and the first metro line opened in 1995. The Shanghai<br />

Metro now has 11 lines, 280 stations, and a total operating length<br />

of 420 km. The number of passengers increased almost 37% per<br />

annum from 2000 to 2005. The total passengers per day rose to<br />

Source: Newman and Matan (forthcoming).<br />

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Box 1 Metros Moving People in Delhi and Shanghai<br />

about 8 million at the end of 2010. Currently, 80% of the city’s<br />

developed area is within 400 meters of a metro line and the system<br />

is now the largest in the world.<br />

The Delhi Metro System. Delhi is India’s largest metropolitan<br />

by area (1,483 square kilometers) and has the second largest<br />

population (14 million people) in India. It has evolved around several<br />

transport modes. During 1981–1998, Delhi’s human and vehicle<br />

populations rose sharply, resulting in traffic congestion and pollution.<br />

In response to this, the governments of India and Delhi formed the<br />

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in 1995. Construction of the Delhi<br />

Metro started in 1998, and its first line opened in 2002, followed<br />

by the second in 2004, the third in 2005, a branch line in 2009,<br />

and two more lines in 2010. Subsequently, the lines have been<br />

extended and new lines are being constructed, including the Delhi<br />

Airport Metro Express. The network consists of six lines with a total<br />

length of 161 km with 135 stations underground, serving 1.2 million<br />

commuters every day.

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