Commute Comparisons

Today's weather:  High = 31  Low = 25

Partly Cloudy

 

Referring to the last two summary posts on 'crazyguy' about my past commuting experienes on the outskirts of Shanghai.

 

The whole saga of working in the boonies and using complex commuting methods that I did 3 years ago is enough material to write a book on.  As much as I want to stop blogging about this topic, I can't, as it is fascinating.  There is always something more that comes up.

 

Trooping about on semi-abandoned Chinese farm roads, or planning elaborate and complex scooter routes around police checkpoints was not something I did on the first day.  In fact, I was oblivious to the whole concept of provincial and city borders and their importance in China, and didn't really learn about it until around 2008.

 

This post will focus on the why, that is why on earth I would do those kind of crazy commutes to begin with.

 

When faced with the fact that the school I worked at was 60km from the city center and I wanted to spend time downtown Shanghai on the weekends, I figured it would be a similar problem as when I worked in Dalian from 2006-08.  At that school (Maple Leaf), it was also 60km from Dalian center, and I also spent a lot of time downtown on weekends.  It took about 90 minutes to do this commute, mainly with the 'qing gui' -- light rail train.  A long trip, yes, but if you timed it right this is how it would work:

 

1.  Walk to the qing gui station, wait -- 20 minutes total.   Take a taxi to the station from Maple Leaf if you are in a rush.  8 RMB.

2.  Catch the train downtown -- 50 minutes.    Cost 8 RMB

3.  Walk to the destination -- 20 minutes

 

Coming back was much the same way.   In the event the train wasn't running, then share taxis would get you to a midway location called Kai Fa Qu for a cheap price of 15 RMB.  Once in Kai Fa Qu, you could cough up the cash for another cab, around 50 RMB, or else time it with the school's twice-weekly shopping bus returning in the evenings, say, on Friday night.

 

So yeah, Maple Leaf is isolated, much the same way Sino Canada is.  But the key difference is that Maple Leaf is still within Dalian "province" which means the transport links are at least functional.  Let's compare and contrast, based on the past transport context.

 

Maple Leaf:    midway town is Kai Fa Qu.  Many teachers lived there and commuted.

Sino Canada:  midway town is Qingpu or Songjiang.  No other teachers besides this idiot (yours truly) lived there and commuted.

 

ML:  cabs cost 100+ RMB from Dalian as a last resort

SC:  cabs cost 300+ RMB from SH as a last resort

 

ML:  light rail train, regular links from midway to Dalian.  Semi-regular links from midway to school

SC:  many bus and train links from midway to Shanghai.   Sketchy links from midway to school, i.e. the 'chicken bus'

 

ML:  no provincial borders crossed

SC:  provincial borders crossed

 

ML:  twice a week shopping bus provided

SC:  once a month shopping bus provided

 

ML:  school development fits into the overall 'beach resort' and massive regional construction

SC:  school development is more or less isolated, not tied to other regional themes or construction.

 

Both schools:   teachers had option to live on campus, rented out, i.e. no allowance

Both schools:   cabs were used frequently in the evenings

Both schools:   active 'black taxi' market near the school gate

Both schools:   teachers often used private contacts to arrange rides and negotiate prices / times / etc.

 

So the way I went about the commuting was to use everything I knew from the Dalian situation and apply it locally.  That simply didn't work.  During the first few cab rides, I quickly learned that most drivers hadn't a clue about how to reach the school or refused to go there.  Those that did would pass two highway toll booths and end up paying twice.  This was a real shock, because how could you pay for a toll, then immediately pay for another one just a mere 1km away?  Even the cab drivers thought this was insane.

 

The double-punch of toll fees was due to the fact that you would pay at the provincial border for the Shanghai section, and then pay the minimum charge for the Jiangsu section as you exited a mere 1km past the border.  Drivers compained about this nonsense to no avail, they still had to pay.  Driver pays first, then passenger pays back at the end.

 

The total price was about 60 RMB and of course, the drivers would demand return tolls.  Many would up the ante because they were angry at the toll situation, and by law, the passenger has to pay tolls.  It was not a good situation.  Actually I can recall a few horror stories when teachers would get into cabs, the driver would discover how complex and costly it was to reach the school, and then charge extortion on arrival.  It got to the point where one teacher (female) had to call in security as the driver threatened assault.

 

After quickly realizing that the cab or bus situation wasn't going to work, I then started breaking the commute up into chunks, using multi-modes of transport, living in multiple apartments, and well the rest is history.