Bus passenger transport refers to the industry that uses buses as the main vehicle and provides passenger transport services to the society in accordance with fixed lines, flights and fares. Bus passenger transport is an important part of urban transportation, which plays an important role in alleviating urban congestion, improving travel convenience, protecting the travel rights of low-income groups, and reducing traffic pollution. According to data from the Champ Consulting Group,2022National Bus and Tram Operating Lines in7.80Ten thousand, total length of operating lines166.45Ten thousand kilometers, including bus lanes1.99Ten thousand kilometers; the country has public buses and trams.70.32Ten thousand, of which pure electric vehicles45.5510,000 vehicles; completed city passenger traffic throughout the year1.86trillions of passengers, accounting for the proportion of urban passenger traffic in the country.58.9%. Expected2023The national bus and tram operating lines will reach8.00Ten thousand, total length of operating lines170.00Ten thousand kilometers, including bus lanes2.10Ten thousand kilometers; the country has public buses and trams.72.00Ten thousand, of which pure electric vehicles48.0010,000 vehicles; completed city passenger traffic throughout the year2.00trillions of passengers, accounting for the proportion of urban passenger traffic in the country.60%。

Shangpu Consulting believes that from the above data, it can be seen that my country's bus passenger transport industry has maintained a stable development trend during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, especially in new energy vehicles and intelligent technologies. However, in the competition with other modes of transportation such as subway, light rail, taxi, online car-hailing, etc., the bus passenger transport industry is also facing some challenges and difficulties. According to data from the Champ Consulting Group,2023The main problems currently existing in the bus passenger transport industry in key cities (referring to municipalities directly under the Central Government, provincial capitals and cities under separate planning) are as follows:

The size of the market is limited. Due to the high population density, limited road resources and unreasonable urban planning in key cities, the development space of bus passenger transport is restricted to some extent. At the same time, due to the rapid development of other modes of transport, bus passenger market share has also been a certain impact. Especially during the epidemic, due to the closed, crowded, contact and other characteristics of bus passenger transport, it is easy to cause the risk of the spread of the epidemic, resulting in a decline in the trust of some passengers in bus passenger transport, and choose other safer and more convenient ways to travel. According to the Champ Consulting Group,2022Bus passenger traffic in key cities as a percentage of urban passenger traffic in54.6%,2019years down.4.4percentage points; expected2023The proportion of bus passenger traffic in key cities in urban passenger traffic will continue to decline52.5%。

Second, the transportation efficiency is not high. Due to the serious traffic congestion in key cities, the speed of bus passenger transport has been greatly affected. Although some cities have built bus lanes, due to lax management, weak law enforcement, illegal occupation and other phenomena, the effect of bus lanes is not obvious. At the same time, due to the unreasonable setting of bus lines in some cities, unscientific schedule, inconvenient transfer and other reasons, the operation efficiency of bus passenger transport is low. According to the Champ Consulting Group,2022The average travel speed of bus passenger transport in key cities in18.5Kilometer/hours, more2019years down.1.2Kilometer/hours; expected2023the average travel speed of bus passenger transport in key cities throughout the year will continue to drop18.0Kilometer/Hours.

Third, the quality of service is not high. Because the bus passenger transport in key cities is facing fierce market competition and high operating costs, some bus companies have certain deficiencies in service quality. For example, some buses are old and damaged, with poor facilities and substandard sanitation, which affect the comfort and sense of security of passengers; some bus drivers have bad attitude, rough driving and violation of rules, which affect the satisfaction and trust of passengers; some bus platforms lack facilities such as sun shelters, seats and information screens, which affect the waiting experience and travel convenience of passengers. According to the Champ Consulting Group,2022The average satisfaction of bus passenger transport in key cities in72.3%,2019years down.2.7percentage points; expected2023The average satisfaction of bus passenger transport in key cities throughout the year will continue to decline70.0%。

Four is a greater impact on the environment. Due to the large number of bus passenger transport in key cities, inconsistent emission standards, slow renewal and other reasons, some buses have a certain impact on the environment, such as increasing the emission of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and other pollutants, aggravating the greenhouse effect, haze and acid rain problems in the city; at the same time, some buses also produce noise pollution, affecting the sound environment quality of the city. According to the Champ Consulting Group,2022The average carbon emissions of bus passenger transport in key cities in0.12Kilogram/Kilometers, more2019years down.0.02Kilogram/person-kilometers; expected2023The average carbon emissions of bus passenger transport in key cities throughout the year will continue to decline0.10Kilogram/person kilometers.

Fifth, the application of new technologies is insufficient. Due to the lack of sufficient technological innovation and investment in the bus passenger transport industry in key cities, some buses lag behind in the application of new technologies. For example, some buses are not equipped with intelligent dispatching system, real-time positioning system, electronic payment system and other equipment, which affects the operation efficiency and passenger experience of bus passenger transport; some buses do not adopt technologies such as automatic driving technology, unmanned driving technology and vehicle networking technology, which affects the safety and intelligence of bus passenger transport; Some buses do not use big data analysis, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other technologies, it affects the service level and management level of bus passenger transport. According to the Champ Consulting Group,2022The average intelligence index of bus passenger transport in key cities in65.4%,2019Year improved.5.4percentage points; expected2023The average intelligent index of bus passenger transport in key cities will be raised70.0%。

In view of the above problems, this paper suggests to improve from the following aspects:

One is to increase policy support. The government should formulate and implement a series of policies and measures conducive to the development of bus passenger transport, such as providing financial subsidies, tax incentives, credit support, etc., to reduce the operating costs and risks of bus enterprises; formulate and implement a series of policies and measures conducive to the optimization of bus passenger transport, such as optimizing route planning, adjusting fare structure, improving transfer system, etc., to improve the market competitiveness and attractiveness of bus passenger transport; formulate and implement a series of policies and measures conducive to the supervision of bus passenger transport, such as establishing a unified standard system, strengthening quality inspection, and severely cracking down on illegal activities, so as to ensure the service quality and safety of bus passenger transport.

The second is to optimize the operation management mode. Bus companies should choose their own operation and management models based on market demand and their own characteristics, such as wholly state-owned, joint ventures, franchising, etc., to improve operational efficiency and profitability; at the same time, they should also learn from advanced domestic and foreign operation and management experience and methods, such as the introduction of competition mechanisms, the implementation of dynamic scheduling, the establishment of incentive and restraint mechanisms, etc., to improve operational and service levels.

The third is to improve service quality and efficiency. Bus companies should continuously update their vehicle equipment and platform facilities to improve the comfort, safety and convenience of buses; at the same time, they should also continuously train and assess their own staff to improve the driving skills, service attitude and awareness of bus standards; in addition, they should constantly improve and optimize their own operation plans and service plans to improve the speed, punctuality and full load rate of buses.

Fourth, promote clean energy and smart technologies. Bus companies should speed up the elimination of high-emission and high-energy-consuming traditional vehicles, and promote the use of low-emission and low-energy new energy vehicles, such as pure electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, etc., to reduce the impact on the environment; At the same time, we should also accelerate the introduction and application of advanced intelligent technologies, such as autonomous driving technology, driverless technology, and Internet of Vehicles technology, to improve the safety and intelligence of buses; in addition, we should also speed up the use and analysis of big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other technologies to improve the service level and management level of buses.

Fifth, strengthen industry supervision and regulation. Government departments should strengthen the supervision and regulation of the bus passenger transport industry, establish and improve relevant laws and regulations, standards, supervision and inspection systems to ensure the healthy development of the bus passenger transport industry; at the same time, they should also strengthen the guidance of the bus passenger transport industry And support, establish and improve the relevant evaluation system, reward and punishment mechanism, coordination mechanism and other systems to promote the optimal development of the bus passenger transport industry.

In short, the bus passenger transport industry is an important part of urban transportation, which plays an important role in alleviating urban congestion, improving travel convenience, protecting the travel rights of low-income groups, and reducing traffic pollution. However, the bus passenger transport industry is also facing some challenges and difficulties, which need to be improved from many aspects. This paper holds that only by increasing policy support, optimizing operation and management mode, improving service quality and efficiency, promoting clean energy and intelligent technology, strengthening industry supervision and regulation and other measures, can we promote the healthy development of bus passenger transport industry and contribute more to urban traffic.