Shanghai introduces Customized Buses Like a Lifestyle Service
1mon 6d ago by lemmy.zip/u/stumu415 in publictransport@slrpnk.net from mp.weixin.qq.com
The city has integrated all customized bus services into the "Suishenxing (随申行)" platform, allowing users to browse routes serving business parks, schools, hospitals, residential communities, and tourist attractions through the app.
The platform has an unusually flexible model: if 15 passengers request a route, a new custom bus line can be launched within as little as three days.
The approach reflects a broader shift in urban mobility, where transportation increasingly behaves like an on-demand lifestyle service rather than a rigid public utility.
This sounds like a good idea, but it is terrible. Transit needs to be reliable, even when I'm not. That means frequent fixed routes so that I don't have to worry about getting to my stop on time, or if I suddenly need to leave early I just go. A route with only 15 passengers running all day is worse than just giving all those people private cars, and if it is only for a specific time if someone is late it makes everyone else late waiting for that person.
The USA does this in some places, it's awful