Beginning on Monday, the Shanghai Ferry Service Co. will start offering what it calls a waterborne bus service along the Huangpu River.

A 20-meter-long, 8-meter-wide steamship will cruise up and down the river five times a day between the Bund, Jinling Road E. on the west bank and Southern Wharf under the Nanpu Bridge on the east side.

The service, which takes 30 minutes and costs 6 yuan (72 U.S. cents) for a one-way trip, will have two stops en route - Dongjiadu on the west bank and Dongchang Road on the east side.

"Unlike the traditional ferry service that has existed on the Huangpu River for more than a century, the new service will offer pass-engers a good sightseeing opportunity while crossing the river," said Wang Jinmei, a spokeswoman with the ferry service. "In addition, passengers will have more freedom as they can get off the boat at any of the stops during the trip."

During trial operations, the ferry service will only be available during the daytime, the company said, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

The ship, which seats up to 80 people, will make more frequent trips, perhaps including nighttime services, in the future if there is enough demand for the service.

"We believe the new ferry service might appear attractive to people who have to travel along the river but aren't on a tight schedule," said Wang. "In addition, for those who want to take a brief sightseeing trip along the Huangpu River, the six-yuan price is also attractive."

The new service is cheaper and faster than regular sightseeing trips along the Huangpu River, which depart at 7 p.m. every day from the Bund, take one hour for a round trip and cost at least 25 yuan for each person.

But it is much slower and more expensive than traditional ferry services, which regularly run between Pudong and Puxi at a cost of 0.1 yuan per trip.

Response to the new service has been lukewarm at best.

"The ferry service has no interest to me as it takes such a long time," said Michael Jiang, a 27-year-old Shanghainese man who works for a local software company.

( eastday.com June 29, 2002)