Lived in Beijing for 2 decades. I think in Beijing and Shanghai, a private car is almost always slower than their subway systems. Beijing subway network has 18 lines, 334 stations and 554 km (344 mi) of track in operation and is the second longest subway system in the world after the Shanghai Metro (588 kilometres). Beijing subway also has extensive expansion plans call for 1,050 km (650 mi) of track by 2020.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Subway

I've lived in Beijing for the last 9 years. I beat the subway in a taxi on my commute from work to home except during peak rush hour. I work and live on 4th ring, it is a straight shot on line 10 without a transfer (ideal subway shot, routes are identical). Couple that with the subway never having seats, being ultra crowded (say hello to your neighbor's BO), and often having long lines to even get in the station via BS security, I've completely given up on the subway unless the traffic is really really bad. I also hate the subway so much that I've shifted my schedule so that a taxi always makes sense (goto work around 6AM, come home before 4PM).

Now Shanghai is completely different, but Beijing is still way behind.

"lines to even get in the station via BS security"

Yup, at Wudaokou this adds >5 minutes at rush hour.

"Now Shanghai is completely different"

I used to think that, until I started a lot of time in Shanghai. Surprisingly, getting from Hongqiao airport to somewhere in Pudong can be faster by car, even the whole subway journey is on line 2. The difference is not as stark as in Beijing, but it still exists.

"I've shifted my schedule"

Yup. It makes so much sense.

The last trains on line 2 are really fast as they skip most stops. Also really noisy as the trains are going well above their usual speed.

Wudaokou is even an extra transfer on line 13. If you can afford it, taxi will save so much time and frustration. Beijing subway is just not well designed or operated compared to taxi and ride sharing services once you reach a certain income level around $2K/month.

So true. "Every time I go in the subway, I die a little bit inside" - a friend of mine used to say this when we lived in Beijing.

Can't remember if I've even been to the Shanghai subway, but the feeling inside in Guangzhou and Shenzhen are like Beijing, but even more foul-smelling. Traffic is also really really bad though, so at least on the subway you know it's going to take an hour instead of the "30 minutes or 3 hours?" estimate you get by car.

Now Hong Kong is completely different... for now.

What is a 'BO'?

Body odor.

Ugh, this was the part I hated most about commuting on the MBTA in Boston. It's not too bad in the winter (cold) or summer (AC is on all the time), but the shoulder seasons, when humidity is high but temperatures are moderate so the AC isn't on, were brutal.

Ya, it often isn't very comfortable. Even our office has this problem, they can never see the bigger picture that humidity is just as bad as temperature for getting work done.

A private car driving from one subway station to another subway station _on the same line_ will generally be slower than a train. But most journeys require a change of lines, and most journeys require walking at either end.

But aside from that, perhaps we're just traveling to/from different places, and hence have a different set of experiences. Here are some specific examples of journeys that are almost always faster for me by car than by public transport.

- Dongzhimen area (5 mins walk from the station) to Financial Street (10 mins walk from Fuchengmen station)

- Jiaodaokou to Tuspark in Wudaokou

- Jiaodaokou to Xi'erqi

- Anywhere to Sanlitun (except on Fri/Sat night)

You're comparing the metro and the traffic in Shanghai to that in Beijing. They're not comparable. Beijing is far, far worse on both. A scooter is probably faster for most purposes than either but the metro in Shanghai is amazing, better than Seoul. Beijing is a horrorshow.

Agreed. In Beijing/Shanghai I've always preferred subway to Taxi or ridesharing services, except when it's terribly bad weather and I have to talk over 1km or so, or when I carry tons of luggages.

Uber/Didi are a nonbrainer in second tier cities and below.

Regarding the second point: sorry, I wasn't being clear. I think that the pricing probably goes like this:

owning/operating a car > using a rideshare > using a personal scooter > using a personal bicycle.

You have to keep in mind that bicycles, scooters, and other small vehicles unsuitable for ridesharing are very popular in China. Since few people own and operate cars, rideshares don't have a large market to undercut.

My primary reason to get an electric scooter wasn't cost: it was availability. Hailing a taxi is often almost impossible, but a scooter is always ready when you are.

But ridesharing means I almost never have to worry about availability, and now my scooter is gathering dust.

In some cities

... > using a personal bicycle > public bicycle