Shenzhen Metro transported 187,813 people by 9:15 p.m. Wednesday, the first full day of operations.

The Metro started operating at 5 p.m. Tuesday immediately after the official opening. Departing every 15 minutes, the Metro began the normal running scheduled from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

"Everything on the Metro was working normally today," said Jiang Weibin, general manager of Metro operations.

On Wednesday, people were still marveling at the new mode of public transport.

"It's so quick," said a lady surnamed Pan. "It took me only 18 minutes from Huaqiangbei to Window of the World."

Each day, Pan travels between the two places to teach at a training center in the downtown area. Previously, a one-way trip by bus or minibus would take her more than an hour.

Minibus driver Mr. Liu said he had noticed little impact from the Metro.

"The Metro goes along only a section of Shennan Road. It does not cover much larger parts of the city," he said. But he admitted that if the Metro system was expanded, minibuses could be affected.

Taxi driver Mr. Zhang said he and other drivers had noticed a"very obvious" impact.

"Each day, we'll make about 60 yuan (US$7.2) less with the Metro opened," he said.

Mr. Feng, a Bus 223 driver whose route parallels more than half of the Metro line, said there were "a little fewer" passengers than before the Metro opened.

But Mr. Liu of the city's traffic monitoring center noticed little difference.

"The intervals between the subway trains are long and limit the Metro's capacity. We found the traffic jam between the Shanghai Hotel and Tongxin Road hadn't changed," he said.

Since few private car owners would use the Metro and the number of buses would not decrease because of fewer passengers, there would be little change in the traffic situation along Shennan Road in the short term, he said.

Editor: Catherine