Beijing customised bus fleet at Beijing South Station, Image:VCG
Customised bus routes, bus pooling, or ‘buses on demand’, allowing people to book a pick-up by phone app, is rapidly starting to be rolled out in China. This type of service offers a last minute, personalised, flexible, door to door experience providing public transport passengers with a private level of transport solution, building on the massive success of car share schemes. It’s set to radicalise public transport services as cities increasingly automate in the next few years.
This kind of service is not a new concept internationally, however cities in China are only just now seriously planning methods of how to reduce the long waiting times of public transport passengers as well as reducing congestion on both roads and pavements, after years of disastrous government promotion of increased private car ownership and parking supply.
This kind of service is not a new concept internationally, however cities in China are only just now seriously planning methods of how to reduce the long waiting times of public transport passengers as well as reducing congestion on both roads and pavements, after years of disastrous government promotion of increased private car ownership and parking supply.
 Interface of Beijing customised bus app. Image: Beijing customised bus | BeijingBeijing Public Transport Group recently launched trial operations of a bus pooling service, linking Beijing South Railway Station to other areas of the city. You can book a ride through an app or a mini program in Wechat, so long as there are more than 3 like-minded passengers. According to the operator, there are currently 37 vehicles offering rides from the station from 6 pm to 12:20 am each day. Greater Beijing is one of the most populous and spread-out area in China. It covers an area 10 times as big as Greater London and is the second most congested city in the country. Journeys across town therefore can be really complicated with public transport and take hours. |
Real-time minibus pooling service (U+ Bus) Image: U+ Bus
 Map shows the pick up stations of U+ bus. Image: U+ bus | ShenzhenSimilar services in Shenzhen are provided by ‘Youdian Bus’ which is a joint venture work between Shenzhen Bus Group and Didi Group. The platform offers a wide range of products and systems, with related services, including a real-time minibus pooling service (U+ Bus), customized bus services (Youdian Bus), data-based intelligent bus dispatching service and real-time bus service inquiry service. The minibus pooling services (U+ Bus) started its trail run in Shekou area in June this year, and it is expected to achieve 80% direct bus access between stations in the area. The company is planning to expand the operating range until it covers all districts in Shenzhen, and promote it to other cities in the future. The data collected will combine with other information systems to better inform decision makers in improving the city’s facilities and networks. |
Image ：Trippr.info
 As a public-sector initiative, Kutsuplus drivers were paid more than drivers for many private ride-sharing companies. Image：Helsinki Region Transport | OverseasSuch services can already be found in many world cities, including Sydney, Singapore and Helsinki. Sydney’s on-demand micro-bus service, BRIDJ, started its operation in this year to fill holes in the standard bus and train network, but is struggling to meet standard criticisms of costs, whilst one of the early adopters in Helsinki named ‘Kutsuplus’, ceased operation at the end of 2015 due to financial difficulties. Market entry for these new services is always going to be problematic whilst initially on a small scale. Financial assessment also rarely takes into account the indirect benefits of reduced pollution or congestion, or assesses the increased mobility of under supported social groups. |
Image：Helsinki Region Transport
VERDICT | In the not too distant future however, on-demand bus transit model will become standardised as fleet services adapt, and will logically form the first step towards large scale automated vehicle adoption in cities, transforming both public and private transit industries. Low user fixed routes will be effectively transformed with the on-demand model, which will provide an effective “last mile” solution in combination with other mass transit forms. |
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