Author: Pan Shaoying Source: IT Times
"It's 200 meters from the station and you can see the bus leaving the platform and the next bus has to wait for 20 minutes. Every morning, Qiqi, who wants to send his children to school and take the bus to the subway station, always stages such a "drama", according to the travel App pinching the point to calculate the arrival time of the bus, but there are too many uncertain factors in the arrival time of the bus, sometimes rushing to the station, but waiting for 10 minutes, sometimes only one step away, the bus will go away, anxious and helpless.
Passengers only need to make an appointment in advance online, select the date and shift, and as long as they arrive at the boarding point before the appointment time, they will not miss it, and they can also guarantee a seat. The advantage of customized buses is that passengers can make reservations in advance according to their own travel plans, and the bus company will arrange the vehicles and routes reasonably according to the reservation situation. In this way, passengers will not only enjoy a more comfortable travel experience, but will also be able to avoid wasting time waiting or changing flights.
Of course, compared with traditional buses, customized buses are not as frequent as many and are generally concentrated in the morning and evening travel peaks, and if you miss it, you may have to choose other travel methods.
In Shanghai, there are many places where customized buses have appeared, especially in areas where the demand for travel is strong but the "last mile" has not yet been opened, and customized buses have solved the pain points of local residents.
Lingang travel: get on the bus to the hospital and get off to enter the consultation room
In the Lingang Xia Li Road bus hub station, in addition to the traditional buses driving in and out, at the entrance of the hub station, there is also a sign with "medical line", which is the first intelligent network "medical line" in Shanghai, using intelligent network technology to achieve automatic driving, and can be opened to the outpatient building of the Lingang branch of Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital.
This is a light blue minibus, which can seat 9 people, equipped with a safety officer, and passengers can make an appointment on the Lingang Travel Mini Program before getting on the bus. On the homepage of the Mini Program, click "Smart Bus" to see all the routes, including the special line around the lake, the medical special line, the Ocean University special line, etc.
Select the route and direction, click to buy tickets, and you can enter the reservation interface. Taking the "medical line" as an example, after entering the appointment interface, you can choose the frequency, from the Xia Li Road bus hub station to the Lingang Campus of the Sixth Hospital, there are currently 6 classes a day, 7:00-10:40 There are 4 shifts, almost every hour there is a shift, and the two shifts in the afternoon are 14:40 and 15:50, which is convenient for residents to go to the hospital in the afternoon. After selecting the schedule and date, click to purchase the ticket, and the reservation is successful. Since the minibus can only seat 9 people and there is no standing space, once the reservation is full, it is not possible to make a reservation. So, make a reservation as early as possible after you have decided on your travel time. Similarly, there are 6 daily departures from the Lingang Campus of the Sixth Hospital to the Xiali Road Bus Hub Station. At present, the "medical line" is still in the free stage, passing through Yihao Oujing, Lingang Capital, Dishui Lake Xinyuan and other relatively large communities in Lingang. After the reservation is successful, you can scan the reservation code when you get on the bus. The "medical line" is an autonomous vehicle, which is not fast, but the driving is smooth, and passengers can not only experience "getting on the bus to the hospital, getting off the bus and entering the consultation room", but also experience autonomous driving.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to the "medical line", there are many similar customized buses in Lingang, which especially provide convenience for local students. For example, the "Ocean University Special Line", which runs between the Lingang Campus of Shanghai Ocean University and the Lingang Avenue subway station, is divided into two modes, one is direct, the ticket price is 2 yuan, and the other is non-direct, which will stop at the first and third canteens of Ocean University, which is currently free, and the frequency of the two modes is not the same. In addition, there are maritime university special lines, electric power university special lines, etc.
Floo Bus: from your doorstep to your office
In many subway stations in Shanghai, buses with the words "Floo Bus" printed on the body can often be seen during the morning and evening rush hours, which is also a customized way to travel, which is very friendly for commuters who have a long way to commute, both in terms of time cost and economic cost.
In 2019, Shanghai's first customized route based on AI algorithms, Songjiang-Zhangjiang, operated 9 customized buses. Different from traditional buses, customized buses use Alipay to make reservations and sell tickets to ensure that one person has one, and mainly stops at the entrance of the community and the stations around the office building on the way, which greatly improves the running speed.
A passenger who lives in Songjiang once calculated that from Songjiang Xincheng Station to Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Station, it takes nearly 2 hours to transfer, get off the bus and walk or ride a bicycle, which takes nearly 2 hours and costs about 12 yuan, and the car is often crowded like canned sardines. If you take a taxi, it is about 150 yuan for a one-way trip, and even if you carpool, it will cost about 70 yuan per person. The customized bus costs 18 yuan one way, the journey takes an hour and a half, half an hour faster than taking the subway, there are seats, it is not crowded, and it is only 6 yuan more expensive.
At present, there are more than 600 routes in Shanghai, search for "Floo Bus" on Alipay, enter the pick-up point and destination, and you can find a suitable route.
"IT Times" reporter to Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Station and Lingang Fengxian Center as the pick-up point and destination, searched out 5 lines, the system recommended the best line from Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Station to Lanwan Community, the estimated time is one and a half hours, the fare is 10 yuan, stop 5 stations on the way, are subway stations in the Zhangjiang area. The "IT Times" reporter also inquired through other map apps, from the Lanwan community to the Lingang Fengxian Center, the distance is more than 2 kilometers, and this distance can be taken by taxi or shared bicycle. Click on "Buy Tickets" and select your travel time.
Although there are still 2 kilometers left in the end can not be reached, if you take the traditional bus from Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Station to Lingang Fengxian Center, it is expected to take more than 3 hours, transfer to 4 buses, there is no subway in the middle, and the taxi price is more than 100 yuan. Whether it's time or economy, the advantages of Floo buses are very clear.
As a custom-built bus, Floo Bus will also open up routes according to the needs of passengers. Click on "I want to customize", enter the departure point and destination, as well as the commute time, as long as there are 20 people in the group, you can open the line and enjoy the commute from home to office.
Pujiaoxing: Commuter lines and cultural tourism lines can be customized
Recently, a Pudong DZ1 Line (Medical Valley Customized Bus Line 1) slowly drove out of the bus hub of Zhoupu East Station, marking the official opening of Pudong online customized buses. At the same time, the "Pu Jiao Xing" App for bus reservation has also been activated, and passengers can book a bus through the "Pu Jiao Xing" App or the "Pu Jiao Xing" mini program on WeChat and Alipay.
There are many travel-related needs on the Pudong Jiaotong Bank applet, and "customized bus" ranks first, and there are 8 self-operated customized lines of Pudong public transport, in addition to Pudong DZ1 line, there are also DZ2 line and DZ3 line. For example, Pudong DZ1 Line is to go back and forth between Zhoupu East Metro Station and Zhangjiang Integrated Innovation Park, with no stop in the middle, with a line length of 3.1 kilometers and a single fare of 3 yuan, and 2 flights a day in the initial stage. At 8:35 a.m. and 9:05 a.m., train departs from Zhoupu East Subway Station to Zhangjiang Integrated Innovation Park, and at 18:00 and 18:35 p.m., departs from Zhangjiang Integrated Innovation Park to Zhoupu East Subway Station. Like Lingang's "medical line", you can make an appointment online before getting on the bus, but these customized lines are not autonomous driving.
In addition, Pudong DZ2 and Line 3 are designed to solve the travel problems of students from Nanhui No. 2 Middle School, from Yanda Road, Dicui Road, Gongbei Road, and Guanhai Road to and from Nanhui No. 2 Middle School.
These three customized lines are all commuter lines, and the three customized lines are tourist routes, covering Hangtou Metro Station, Shanghai Wild Animal Park, Disney Metro Station, Chuansha Metro Station, etc., connecting the passage from the subway station to the scenic spots. For example, Pudong Line 4 runs between Hangtou Metro Station and Shanghai Wild Animal Park.
Pudong bus custom line has also launched a cultural tourism line, Pudong DZ8 line is the Gaodong Sakura cultural tourism line, between Hangjin Road subway station and Yingyou Bloom Yangyuan Station, the fare is 3 yuan. This tailor-made route for the Gaodong Cherry Blossom Festival, with a total length of about 15 kilometers and a total travel time of about 80 minutes, connects popular cherry blossom viewing spots such as cherry blossom gardens, Xinyue Road, and ecological parks.
Customization, is to meet the travel needs of passengers, everyone's travel needs are different, if there is no line that meets their travel needs, click "submit line needs", scan the QR code can fill in the demand, maybe there will be a line that meets their needs in the future, Pudong public transport will open 25 new online customized bus lines this year.