Passengers in this city can design their own bus route, but there’s a catch

Passengers can now give their input when it comes to public transportation routes.

At the beginning of May, Shanghai introduced customized bus routes that are designed by the passengers.

How does it work? Users first have to request a customized ride through a system. Once their proposal is out, other passengers vote for it. Once the demand for a certain journey meets a threshold of 15 to 20 passengers, the trip is approved.

More than 220 routes with buses marked “DZ” (“dingzhi” or “customized”) were launched in 16 city districts.

Once users decide they need a customized trip, they can go to a dedicated online platform and enter information such as the start and end points of their journey, preferred times, and frequency. If the route is approved, users can start using the customized route in about three days.

The first customized bus route that connects metro stations with residential places, offices, and schools was created after a request from a resident. This prompted the transportation staff to conduct research on passenger commuting habits and drivers to do trial runs.

The system was created to increase the quality of use of public transportation, especially during peak times.

The costs of such travelling are market-based, but it doesn’t offer discounts for seniors or students.

While such a system makes it easier to propose new routes, it’s still a work in progress since the idea isn’t widely known, the demand for certain routes is uneven, and the planning of the routes still requires manual work, according to Wang Yixiang, deputy director of the city’s Passenger Transport Department.