During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025), Beijing Public Transport Corporation focused on improving everyday services by launching school shuttle routes, expanding short-distance and highly-used routes where buses can become crowded with passengers in no time, and exploring convenient staggered shared parking. These efforts aim to address the "last kilometer" issues of public transport services.

Over the past five years, the city has optimized bus routes and stop locations to facilitate connections between buses and rail transit. Over 600 bus routes have been improved, with the surface bus network expanded by over 500 kilometers, facilitating travel for residents in 899 residential communities. The rate of bus-to-subway transfers within 50 meters has increased to 90 percent. Meanwhile, the corporation has upgraded stop announcement equipment and route maps, and conducted transfer training for drivers and onboard staff across 450 bus routes which reach 50 subway stations, all aimed at providing faster, more convenient transfers for commuters.

Young passengers using a school shuttle bus

Focusing on schools, hospitals, scenic areas and spots, and business districts, the corporation has developed over 350 diverse shuttle services branded with "Tong" (通) to address key travel challenges for residents. Among them, the "Tong Xue" (通学) school shuttle network has been expanded significantly, growing from 25 routes serving 13 schools across four districts to 299 routes serving 120 schools in eight districts, with the number of students served skyrocketing from 900 to 18,500. To improve access to healthcare services, 14 "Tong Yi" (通医) shuttle routes have been launched to take passengers to 17 hospitals, with an average of 2,500 passenger trips daily. Meanwhile, 39 "Tong You" (通游) shuttle routes for tourists have been launched to provide convenient access to over 50 popular attractions, such as the Beijing Performing Arts Center, the Beijing Library, and the Grand Canal Museum of Beijing, recording over 20,000 passenger trips per day.

The corporation has developed 208 iconic bus routes to continuously enrich the cultural experiences on board. Among them, routes No. 82, No. 5, and No. 2, which connect important heritage sites and other attractions along the Beijing Central Axis (including the Beijing Olympic Park, the Drum Tower, and Yongdingmen Gate), form the centerpiece of the "Guarding the Central Axis" cultural bus route, carrying forward the city's historical legacies. Meanwhile, routes such as No. 107 (which traverses the ancient capital's cultural landmarks and old streets around the Drum Tower rich in Beijing's local cultural elements), No. 141 (which runs north-south across the city), No. 23 (which dates back to the days shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China), and T116 (which is dedicated to promoting the Grand Canal culture), all carry the memories of Beijing as a historic capital. These routes highlight Beijing's features, invite passengers to experience the charm of this ancient capital, and showcase the spirit of the times.

"Grand Central Axis" sightseeing bus

Following the successful inscription of the Beijing Central Axis as a World Heritage site, the corporation launched the "Grand Central Axis" sightseeing bus route. In its first year of operation, the route recorded nearly 100,000 trips by passengers nationwide and attracted nearly 1,000 foreign guests. Plans are underway to introduce multilingual translation services to further showcase the cultural significance of Beijing Central Axis to every corner of the world.

Strengthening age-friendly and barrier-free environments remains an important aspect of the corporation's service improvements. Over the past five years, the corporation has enlarged its fleet of low-floor, accessible vehicles, with barrier-free public electric buses now accounting for 80 percent of the urban buses. It has also created 130 senior-friendly bus routes and added a barrier-free passenger guidance system to the Yilutongxing (一路同行) app, making it easier for people with disabilities to plan their journeys.

Currently, the corporation has opened over 200 bus terminals with staggered shared parking facilities to the public, providing over 3,000 parking spaces for private vehicles.

Staggered shared parking spaces of Tiancun Banbidian Bus Terminal

In addition, Beijing's public transport fleet has undergone continuous optimization. As of now, a total of 20,547 public electric buses are in operation, with clean and new energy buses accounting for nearly 94.4 percent of the fleet, making Beijing home to the world's largest clean energy bus fleet. As part of the 2022 Winter Olympics' green legacies, 169 hydrogen fuel cell buses have also been integrated into regular services.

(Source: Beijing Daily App)