Public buses are usually called "street fighters" in Shanghai, because many bus drivers drive very fast and change lanes with no consideration for traffic rules. Sometimes the bus drivers even run red lights in busy areas. They are so bold because the bus companies are mostly State-owned and the traffic fines are paid by the company. Therefore, local car drivers always stay away from these bulky street fighters.

Hearing complaints from residents this month a major bus company started a pilot project to "give way to pedestrians on crossroads" on some bus routes, in order to reduce the number of accidents happening on pedestrian crossings. The pilot project is supposed to remind bus drivers to drive slowly.

This is good news as it regulates bus drivers in urban areas. However, the bus drivers in rural areas are not included in this project as most of the bus routes in the city's suburbs are operated by the private companies.

The direct result of this is that speeding is still quite common in the suburbs. A few days ago local media reported that a university student riding in a speeding bus was killed when a truck ploughed into the bus while it was traveling to his campus in Lingang New City in Pudong New Area.

The bus drivers in rural areas still drive fast and disobey traffic rules. The bus routes are privately owned and the vehicles are usually being driven by their owners. Therefore it is unsurprising that the drivers are keen to pick up as many passengers as possible in the shortest amount of time. The other reason is there are usually fewer cars and electronic traffic monitors on suburban roads compared to urban roads.

From my point of view, education is necessary to make both urban and suburban drivers realize the importance of traffic rules. Some local bus companies have already implemented an internal rule that whoever saves the most gasoline every year will be rewarded with money or an overseas trip. But the most crucial point is that those bus drivers who disobey the traffic rules should pay the fines themselves.

Illustration: Lu Ting/GT













