Recently, the increase in fares of 4 high-speed rail lines has caused a lot of discussion, but at the same time as the high-speed rail price increase was announced, did you notice that no one went to take the long-distance bus. The once bustling coach station is now deserted and now being abandoned by the times. Recall that many years ago, the bus was almost the king of travel, whether it was returning home on holidays, or on a business trip, or participating in training, everyone's first choice was always the bus station. But what about now? At the peak of travel during the May Day holiday, everyone complained that they couldn't buy high-speed rail tickets and train tickets, and they stared at the ticket-grabbing software, but no one wanted to take the bus. Many passenger terminals are closed. Even first-tier cities such as Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai are also drastically abolishing bus terminals.
According to the Ministry of Transport, in 2014, the country's highway passenger traffic reached 19 billion, but then began to plummet, leaving only 13 billion passengers in 2019. Especially after the epidemic, the passenger traffic in 2021 will be cut in half, with only 5 billion passengers in the whole year. By March 2023, 42 passenger stations in Guangdong province alone will be suspended. The situation in Beijing, Wuhan and other places is not optimistic, and many passenger terminals have either become ghost towns or simply closed their doors.
What is the reason behind this? The first reason: of course, comes from the rise of infrastructure. As of December 2022, China's railway operating mileage has reached a staggering 155,000 kilometers, of which high-speed rail accounts for 42,000 kilometers, ranking first in the world. In contrast, long-distance buses are not only slow, but they are also far less comfortable and time-efficient than high-speed rail. A manager of an automobile transport group said that in the past, a long-distance bus of three or four hundred kilometers could make a lot of profits, but since the opening of the high-speed railway, this piece of fat has been cut away, and the bus has almost no way to live. Even in those places where there is no high-speed rail, ordinary trains have increased their speed again and again, and their competitiveness has skyrocketed, and passenger cars can hardly find a foothold.
Another is the change in the distance of population migration. In the past, when people took a long-distance bus, they might have run from one town to another, and no one thought of running further. Like our parents, we may not even go out of the province where we are located in our lives, at most we walk around the city where we are located. But now, everyone is starting to leave their hometowns and go to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, in short, where to make money. If you want to go to a distant place and travel a long distance, you will naturally not consider the passenger station.
The second reason: in addition to high-speed rail to grab business, the power of online car-hailing and private cars should not be underestimated. As early as ten years ago, private cars began to enter the epidemic period, and today, the popularity of private cars in households is comparable to that of bicycles in every household in the sixties and seventies of the last century.
Walking on the street, you will find that, except for those in remote areas, most families not only have a small car, but many middle-class families each have their own scooter. Such a penetration rate, coupled with the policy of free high-speed private cars on holidays, has made self-driving travel the first choice for many people. Spring Festival, May Day, National Day, everyone likes to drive their own cars, who would think of squeezing the bus?
Life at the passenger station is getting more and more difficult, and the bosses have to reluctantly cut costs, optimize personnel, and reduce routes. In addition, in rural areas, most young people go out to work, and the elderly and children left behind use their cars very infrequently, and each additional line means more fuel, labor and operating costs.
According to 2021 data from the Ministry of Transport, there are 587,000 operating buses in the country, but only 5 billion road riders in the whole year. On average, each vehicle transports less than 24 passengers per day. If you include the short-haul buses that are frequent, the number of passengers per trip is probably even smaller.
But the desertion of the passenger station is not entirely an external factor, and its own defects are also the reason why netizens stay away. Let's listen to what netizens complain. First of all, the ride experience is poor. You can't check the departure time and stops at any time on the bus like the high-speed rail, so it will be miserable if you oversleep. Again, the hardware facilities are backward. After a long walk of hours, there was not even a bathroom. As a netizen said, I'd rather not go home or take the bus, otherwise I will really suffocate my kidneys and bladder.
Security is also a matter of concern. Medium- and long-distance bus drivers drive for a long time, and the risk of fatigue driving increases greatly, and accidents may occur if they are not careful. In addition, road transportation is greatly affected by the weather, and when thunderstorms and storms hit, you may have to be trapped in the car or waiting room. Some passengers have also experienced the embarrassing situation of being "transferred" to other cars by the driver because there are too few people on the car.
But then again, will the passenger transport center of the future really be completely replaced? No. It may decrease, but it won't go away. After all, there are always some places that can't be covered by high-speed rail, and there are always some people who can't drive. Especially for those who live in remote places, buses are still the most convenient option for them. It can stop directly at the door of the house, and compared to the "shackles" of high-speed rail, the flexibility of the bus is still very popular.
From an economic point of view, bus fares are also more affordable. Although the high-speed rail is fast and good, the ticket price is expensive, and the bus is more affordable for families with average economic conditions. In recent years, some passenger terminals have also begun to try to transform. For example, Guangzhou has established a "hailing station" to realize the service of "online point selection, nearby boarding, and one-stop direct access". All you need to do is turn on your phone and book the nearest greeting stop, and the whole process is convenient and efficient. Jilin's Gongzhuling Passenger Transport Center has played a new trick, not only for passenger transport, but also for the integration of supermarkets, e-commerce, logistics and other functions to create a new comprehensive service platform.
Overall, despite the many challenges, as long as they can keep up with the times, there is still room for the passenger transport center to survive. After all, "there must be a road before the car reaches the mountain", as long as we are wise and brave enough, we can always find a way to break through the predicament.