[Editor’s Note]
Amidst the bustling traffic flowing north and south, the lively automobile passenger stations once served as a collective memory for several generations. With the changing times and shifts in transportation modes, more and more passenger stations are now at a “crossroads,” facing the question of whether to cease operations and close or to upgrade and transform. Where lies the path for the transformation of passenger stations?
The Paper launches a series of reports titled “Passenger Stations at the Crossroads,” conducting on-site investigations and visits to representative passenger stations across the country, engaging in deep dialogues with industry experts, passenger transport practitioners, and management departments to jointly explore this question of transformation.
After the pandemic, the number of passengers has decreased. On rural roads, it is rare to see buses filled with passengers.
Zhang Lei is a passenger transport driver at the Huailai County Automobile Passenger Station in Zhangjiakou (hereinafter referred to as “Huailai Passenger Station”). He has been in the passenger transport industry since his 30s, and his vehicle is not just a means of earning a living; driving has become a habit. However, facing the declining passenger transport business, Zhang Lei, now in his 50s, is at a loss. If he doesn’t do passenger transport, what else can he do? He can’t think of any other options. “I can’t go out and do odd jobs at this age.”
Huailai Passenger Station. All photos in this article are taken by Liu Lu, a reporter from The Paper.
Huailai Passenger Station was established in 1950 and later rebuilt in 1993. Subsequently, to adapt to economic and social development as well as urban construction and meet the travel needs of passengers, the station was relocated and newly built at the end of 2011. The new passenger station covers an area of 44 acres, with an actual usage area of 28 acres and a total investment of 76 million yuan. The comprehensive building has a construction area of 21,300 square meters, and the passenger waiting hall covers 1,100 square meters. The building was completed and put into operation in September 2013. Currently, the passenger station has 69 employees.
Nine years ago, Zhang Lei started contracting passenger transport routes through Huailai Passenger Station. Nominally, he is affiliated with the passenger station, but in reality, he is the actual operator of the route. Besides needing to pay a fixed monthly contract fee to the passenger station, he bears the risk of profit and loss himself.
The route Zhang Lei contracts is from Shacheng Town to Donghuayuan Town in Huailai County, with a total length of over 50 kilometers and passing through approximately more than 20 villages and towns. This passenger transport route, connecting dozens of villages and towns, was very popular seven or eight years ago. “Compared to other routes, this one had the most passengers at one point. Every time it departed, the bus was full.” Now, facing the sparsely populated bus compartment, Zhang Lei can’t help but feel a bit sad.
Like Zhang Lei, passenger transport driver Wang Zhiming can also feel the loss of passengers. On a trip, there are at most a dozen people in the compartment, and sometimes the bus departs empty. The change in income is most evident. Wang Zhiming calculates that he needs to earn at least 300 yuan per day to break even. Before the pandemic, the daily income was considerable, with the best years yielding over 100,000 yuan in income. But now, he can only hope for more passengers on the next trip.
There are many passenger transport drivers in the county similar to Zhang Lei and Wang Zhiming, who are older and lack other skills, making passenger transport their only option. Although the current situation is somewhat difficult, the drivers have not given up their love for life.
During on-site visits, The Paper found that with the changing times and shifts in transportation modes, passenger transport is being replaced by faster and more convenient modes such as private cars, carpooling, and high-speed trains. Buses seem to be fading from the public’s view. Not only are drivers’ incomes decreasing, but the passenger station’s revenues are also declining. Where lies the future of passenger transport? This is not just a question for drivers but also for the industry.
The Troubles of Passenger Transport Drivers
The winter wind is cold.
Huailai County in Zhangjiakou is located in the northwestern part of Hebei Province and the southeastern part of Zhangjiakou City. Being in the transitional zone between the坝上 (grassland areas) and 坝下 (lowland areas) of Zhangjiakou, the chill of early winter is always felt earlier here. Although the midday sun is warm, people on the streets have already put on cotton clothes.
Zhang Lei’s home is in Shacheng Town, Huailai County. Compared to other towns, Shacheng Town is economically strong in Huailai County, with more developed industries and commerce than other townships. The county government is also located in this town.
The car Zhang Lei currently drives is a white new energy large bus with 34 seats. Three months ago, he renewed his contract with the passenger station, and the bus was newly issued by the station. Zhang Lei said that the first time he signed the contract was nine years ago when he was operating a yellow new energy mid-sized bus, which has now reached its scrap time.
After getting a new car, Zhang Lei became more troubled. He doesn’t know when the passengers started to become fewer. “Maybe after the pandemic, or maybe after getting the new car.” It’s hard to say, but he can see that there are more and more empty seats on the bus. Talking about the best times for business, “Seven or eight years ago, (the bus) was always full. It almost never ran empty back and forth, and I could make up to over 100,000 yuan a year at most. Now, it’s good if I can break even.”
After departing, there are almost no passengers on Zhang Lei’s bus, and most of the seats are empty.
In the parking lot, Zhang Lei sits in the driver’s seat waiting for passengers to board. The departure time is 11 o’clock, and it’s almost time to depart, but only 6 or 7 passengers have boarded. The midday sun shines into the compartment, making people a bit drowsy. At 11 o’clock, the whole bus starts up, and two-thirds of the seats are still empty.
Driving all year round, it’s normal to eat and sleep on the go. Zhang Lei’s hair is messy, and his skin has been tanned to a wheat color. He looks a bit unkempt, and his lips are a bit pale from not having time to drink water.
According to regulations, drivers on the Shacheng-Donghuayuan route must make two and a half trips a day. A round trip is considered one trip, passing through more than 20 villages. The distance between the starting and ending stations is over 50 kilometers, totaling 250 kilometers a day.
Because he needs to depart the first bus from Donghuayuan Town the next morning, Zhang Lei has to find a small inn to stay for the night. The inn’s environment is not good, but the price is cheap. There is only an iron-framed bed in the room, a green plastic thermos next to the wall, a simple sink, but no toilet. He sits on the bed and sends a voice message to a friend, “I’ve been driving all day, from morning to night, and only made 300 yuan. I didn’t earn a penny; it was all for nothing.” When speaking, Zhang Lei’s voice sounds both angry and helpless.
Whether he earns money or not requires careful calculation. “After getting the new car, just charging the car costs over 100 yuan a day. I have to pay a fixed contract fee of 3,000 yuan to the station every month, which averages out to 100 yuan a day. There’s also the vehicle insurance fee of around 50 yuan a day, plus a meal fee of over 30 yuan. After adding up all the miscellaneous expenses, earning 300 yuan means working for free.” Zhang Lei says that for the previous yellow car, the daily electricity fee was only around 50 yuan, while the new car’s electricity fee is about three times that of the past.
At around 8:00 p.m., Zhang Lei parks the car at the charging station to start charging. Although it’s not yet the severe winter, the passenger transport business is about to enter its off-season. “There are the most people in summer, especially during the summer vacation, because the ticket prices are cheap and there are also many students taking the bus. There will be even fewer passengers in winter. No one takes the bus when it’s too cold, but the bus can’t stop running even if there are few people. Besides, electric cars consume more electricity in winter, so the daily electricity fee will also increase significantly then.”
Zhang Lei introduces that, including his car, there are currently 10 cars running on the Shacheng-Donghuayuan route. The 10 cars depart successively according to the schedule, and the other 9 cars have also signed contract management agreements with the automobile passenger station. “There were originally 12 cars arranged