After a regular check by the Shanghai Metro Operation Co., 36,568 magnetic tickets once used on the existing three metro lines were recently used.  In over 30 percent of the cases, passenger misuse was to blame, the Youth Daily reported today.
Two thirds of the tickets were worn out after 600 to 700 uses due to surface stains or even physical damage, according to Qu, from the general metro dispatch.
A smart card is now under consideration by Shanghai Metro.  Though costing more, in theory the smart cards could be used 100,000 times.
Experts expect that with these cards, the passenger flow through the ticket barriers would be increased by at least 20 percent.