Making the Wait More Entertaining

Posted by Carol Coletta on October 19, 2008 |

Just heard on CNN Worldwide that Shanghai is trying to make the wait for its metro more entertaining.  On one line with 12 minute headways, Shanghai has installed a system to lend magazines to waiting riders.  Problem is, only 10 days into the program, riders haven't quite figured out how the system works.  An average of 400-500 mags are being lost per day.  According ot Sun Kequin with Shanghai Metro, the experiment will continue, while Metro tries to re-educate the riders. But long-term, the system can't continue to lose that many magazines daily and continue the program. 

As an avid magazine reader (I just subscribed to Maghound, and went over the plan limit -- and it's not like I didn't have more than enough magazine subscriptions already), I love this idea.  But would I be convinced to snag a magazine or an article, yes I would.  Funny how magazine readership keeps expanding while newspaper readership keeps declining.  Have newspapers ever heard of something called "design"?  Geez.  The Chicago Tribune just redesigned its newspaper, and sadly, it doesn't look any better.  I just don't get it.

More