By the end of 2018, Zhongshan had 2,248 buses in service and 185 operational bus lines.[Photo/Zhongshan Daily] 

The Zhongshan Investigation Team of the National Bureau of Statistics recently compiled the "2018 Social Satisfaction Analysis Report on Zhongshan Bus Services."

The report shows that, by the end of 2018, Zhongshan had 2,248 buses in service and 185 operational bus lines. The annual mileage of these buses exceeded 136 million kilometers, and they carried a total of 173.6 million passengers. Therefore, based on the city's 2018 year-end population of 3.31 million, each Zhongshan citizen, on average, took 52 bus rides last year.

Among all respondents, some 28.3% said that they took at least 10 bus rides per week. The major purposes for taking the bus were commuting to work, shopping trips, going out for entertainment, visiting relatives or friends, and picking up children.

By the end of 2018, Zhongshan had issued 3.62 million "Zhongshan Tong" bus cards. These cards were used by Zhongshan citizens to receive up to 130 million rides at discounted prices.

Additionally, some 89.3% of respondents said that they were satisfied with the improved payment methods, such as code-scanning payment and mobile Unionpay.

Last year, all in service buses provided free WiFi to passengers. Over 100,000 bus passengers in 2018 used this convenient feature.

The report also shows that Zhongshan citizens' satisfaction towards the bus services has been increasing year by year. In 2018, some 88.7% of respondents felt satisfied with the city's bus operations. The figures for 2016 and 2017 were 88.2% and 88.5% respectively.