1 Introduction

Beijing is a good example that major Chinese cities are expanding

outwards rapidly, leading to increasing commuting distance, so
people rely more and more on mechanized vehicle traffic resources
such as bus transit, rail transit, and car travel.

However, as it turned out, the car-based travel mode will not work
in a populous city like Beijing. The growing automobile use did
nothing useful to ease the travel pressure, but rather brought
congestions everywhere (Figure1-1), especially during the peak
hours. So developing and improving mass transit will be more
effective to solve commuting problems in cities like Beijing.

Beijing has invested a huge amount of money in mass transit,
covering most of the areas of the city. But two major problems still
exist. First one is the transfer inconvenience between different
transits and major lines; the other one is what we call the last
kilometer inconvenience which means the service gap between
major stations and commuters destinations (Figure1-2).

! Background
To eliminate these inconveniences, Beijing has put forward several measures in recent
years. First in 2009, using electric power cart to fill the gap; then in 2010, providing
bicycle rental service at major stations; and now, mini (short-distance) bus lines are put
into use (Table1-1).

llgure1-1CongesLlons caused by
auLomoblle use


llgure1-2CaLchlng bus-"Lhe lasL
kllomeLer" lnconvenlence
1able1-11he measures Lo solve Lhe menLloned problems
!"#$ &'()( *"#+,$" -,..#$/
0"1"$#2
"33"4)
2009

LlecLrlc
power carL
LlecLrlc power carLs, used
Lo serve Lhe 8el[lng
Clymplc Cames, are sLlll
ln use ln some areas.
noL wldely
used, do noL
help much.
2010

8lcycle renLal
servlce
8lcycle renLal servlce,
as subsldlary Lo mass
LranslL, has effecL Lo som
e exLenL .
ulfflculL Lo
manage.
2011

Mlnl
(shorL-dlsLanc
e) bus llne
Mlnl (shorL-dlsLance) bus
llne alms Lo serve as
llnkage beLween
dlfferenL LranslLs and
ma[or llnes.
Pas yeL Lo
be proved.

1


! Key Problem
The electric power cart and bicycle rental service proved of little avail to solving the
problems. The mini bus line is based on the mainstream bus transit system, whether it
can be widely accepted and successfully serve as linkage between different transits and
major lines has yet to be proved.

2 Basic Research Information
2.1 Research Overview
On March 28, 2011, 8 new short-distance bus lines were set up in Beijing. The general
length of these lines is between 3 and 7 kilometers, they cover more than 50
communities across the city, ending the no bus situation in 12 areas (Table2-1).

2.2 Research Subject
We mainly focus on the Route 22 which serves the Shaoyaoju area. We evaluate its
operation status by conducting a public opinion survey to see how much this new added
bus line is accepted, and finally make a judgment on how much it contributes to solving
the mentioned problems.

2.3 Research Area
This research chooses the Shaoyaoju area as the subject area with the subway line 5 and
line 10 intersection station Shaoyaoju at the core. This area is a large residential
community; the transfer and the the last kilometer inconveniences have been
long-term problems here (Figure2-1).


1able2-1 ShorL-dlsLance bus llne lnvenLory

5#."
6"17)'
89.:
;/<" -"$=>4" ?$"# 5#."
6"17)'
89.:
;/<" -"$=>4" ?$"#
8ouLe20 3.7
Loop
Llne
8elyuan,
Chaoyang ulsL
8ouLe23 4
ShuLLle
llne
Llxlangcheng,
Pongshenyuan,
luyuan, and
kangshenyuan
communlLy
8ouLe21 4
ShuLLle
llne
Puoylng area 8ouLe24 6.3
ShuLLle
llne
8ouLe22 3.7
Loop
Llne
Shaoyao[u area 8ouLe27 6
ShuLLle
llne
Calhuylng area,
lengLal ulsL
8ouLe3 6.23
ShuLLle
llne
?ou'anmen area 8ouLe28 4.8
Loop
Llne
Shangdl area,
Paldlan ulsL

2


2.4 Research Method and Structure
We mainly use four research methods: data collection, fieldwork, questionnaire, and
depth interview.


3 Current Situation Analysis
3.1 Stop Distribution and Operation Status Evaluation
3.1.1 Stop Distribution and Public Demand
! Stop Distribution
On February 25, 2011, Route 22, the shortest bus line in the city, went into service. Its
route revolves around Shaoyaoju community, the overall length is 3.7 kilometers and
there are totally 8 stops which are West Wanghe Bridge, Wanghe Bridge, East
Shaoyaoju, Subway Shaoyaoju Station, South Entry of South Yuhui Rd, University of
International Business and Economics (UIBE), National Museum of Modern Chinese
Literature (NMMCL), and South Yuhui Rd (Table3-1).

1able3-1 8ouLe 22 sLop dlsLrlbuLlon
@(,)" 5#." -)(<+ A22,+)$#)>(1
8ouLe 22
WesL Wanghe 8rldge, Wanghe 8rldge, LasL
Shaoyao[u, Subway Shaoyao[u SLaLlon, SouLh LnLry of
SouLh ?uhul 8d, ul8L, nMMCL, and SouLh ?uhul 8d


8ouLe 22
Shaoyao[u
llgure2-1 8esearch area
3
! Demand Index
The service object of this bus line includes
local residents in the community, students
and faculties in UIBE, and people from
surrounding public buildings. We get the
proportions of population composition in
this area from the sixth national population
census, Beijing (Figure3-1). And for
details of each stops demand index, see
Table3-2.

1able3-2 uemand lndex of each sLop

-)(< 1#." -,$$(,1B>17 1(B"+ A22,+)$#)>(1 C".#1B >1B"D
-,EF#/
-'#(/#(G,
-)#)>(1
Subway Shaoyao[u
sLaLlon, Shaoyao[u
communlLy



-(,)' H1)$/
(3 -(,)'
!,',> @B
Shaoyao[u
communlLy,
?uandadu rulns park,
and some mlxed-use
commerclals




IAJH
Shaoyao[u communlL,
ul8L, Shenzhou
buslness hoLel, A
ma[or caLerlng area





5**K6
Shaoyao[u
communlLy, nMMCL,
Shaoyao[ubelll,
nanfengylshang





-(,)' !,',>
@B
Shl'ao lnLernaLlonal
CenLer, Shaoyao[u
communlLy, Chlna
LnvlronmenLal
MonlLorlng SLaLlon







60%
26%
3%
3%
8%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
office employees
students
self-employed
working at home
unemployed
llgure3-1 1he proporLlons of populaLlon composlLlon
4

! Public Demand Summary
The result of our public survey indicates that
a strong demand exist in each of the 7 stops
in this line. According to the public opinions,
this line not only links the major bus lines,
but also almost sends the passengers directly
home; it largely mitigates the transfer and
the last kilometer inconveniences
(Figure3-2).


3.1.2 Evaluative Feedback
According to the survey, nearly 50% of the
respondents use the short-distance bus
service (Figure3-3), that means the subway
lines and major bus lines cannot extend to
their destinations or they need this short line
to transfer between major lines, and they
prefer this service than taking taxi, bicycle
or walking.


-)(< 1#." -,$$(,1B>17 1(B"+ A22,+)$#)>(1 C".#1B >1B"D
L"+) L#17'"
J$>B7"
A furnlLure museum,
Ma[or commerclal
area




L#17'"
J$>B7"
!uranzhl[la, A ma[or
offlce bulldlng,
Shaoyao[u
communlL




H#+)
-'#(/#(G,
Shaoyao[ubelll,
8el[lng elecLronlc
sclence and
Lechnology lnsLlLuLe



noLe: Lhese demand lndexes are generaLed based on sLaLlsLlcs of Lhe pedesLrlan flow aL each node per day


13%
42%
26%
19%
0 20 40 60
strongly
need
need
whatever
no need

43%
13%
5%
18%
21%
short-distance
bus service
taxi
bicycle
walking
close to major
lines
llgure3-2 ubllc demand survey
llgure3-3 eople's cholces for
Lransfer and "Lhe lasL kllomeLer"
3
The short bus line is great, short time interval, very convenient. After I get off work, I
used to take taxi from the subway station to home, now the bus stop is just 30 meters
outside my apartment, taking the bus saves me a lot of money.



A feedback example from one of the respondents:
We also collect their evaluations on several specific aspects of this bus service which
are departure interval, operating schedule, stop distribution, and riding comfort
(Table3-3).

To sum up, what we heard most are positive voices. We found that what people care
most about a mass transit is reachability which means whether it can reach their
homes. The more convenience a transit way brought, the more it will be welcomed.

However, there have been some opposing voices. A few local residents think that the
frequently coming buses have worsened the already congested traffic.

3.2 Operation Status
3.2.1 General Situation
There are totally two buses running this 7-stop loop line (not including the first and last
stop), they departure from Wanghe Bridge and end in Wanghe Bridge after a round trip,
the departure interval is 10 minutes. This line runs during the morning peak (6:30-9:30)
and evening peak (16:30-19:30).

During its operating time, weve seen large passenger load of this line which verified
the result of the public demand survey (Figure3-4). But the main objective of these
short-distance bus services is to solve the commuting problem, so they only run during
the peak hours in weekdays. Another major work in the field research is that we observe
the pedestrian flow from those major nodes near each stop such as commercial center,
school, catering area, and office building. We found that when Route 22 is out of
1able3-3 LvaluaLlon on speclflc aspecLs of Lhls bus servlce

C"<#$),$" >1)"$=#2 M<"$#)>17 +4'"B,2" -)(< B>+)$>E,)>(1 @>B>17 4(.3($)
A22,+)$#)>(1
-,..#$/
MosL of Lhe
respondenLs are
saLlsfled wlLh Lhe
deparLure lnLerval,
Lhe walLlng Llme aL
bus sLop ls shorL and
relaLlvely sLable.
MosL of Lhe
respondenLs are noL
saLlsfled wlLh Lhe
operaLlng schedule,
Lhey requlre
exLendlng Lhe
servlce Llme.
MosL of Lhe
respondenLs are
saLlsfled wlLh Lhe sLop
dlsLrlbuLlon, Lhe sLops
are locaLed close Lo
Lhelr desLlnaLlons.
Slnce Lhe buses
runnlng Lhls llne are
brand new, almosL all
Lhe respondenLs are
saLlsfled wlLh Lhe
rldlng comforL.

6