Han Ximin

    Ximhan@126.com

    SMARTPHONE users can get up-to-the-minute bus information for 897 bus routes across the city with the Jiaotongzaishou (交通在手) 4.0 app and public WeChat service account Jiaotongzaishou (交通在手), which were officially launched yesterday.

    With these online services, bus riders can check the locations and arrival times of the buses they are waiting for. They can plan their best bus routes to destinations from home or the office and will never again have to feel the pain of waiting for a bus that might not come.

    With the apps, also called Mobile Bus Stop Signs, riders can realize the dream of never waiting for a bus again. They can walk up to the bus stop when the app shows the bus they are waiting for is coming, the Shenzhen Transportation Commission said at the launch ceremony yesterday.

    The software can automatically locate and display bus stops within 500 meters of your location, and you can check all related bus information by typing in questions. The Shenzhen Transportation Commission said the software is connected to the GPS information of 15,000 buses that operate along 897 routes and at 9,537 bus stops.

    The ceremony also marked the beginning of World Car-free Week.

    To mark World Car-free Day, which falls Monday, the Shenzhen Transportation Commission will offer free subway and bus rides to car drivers, but they will need to present their drivers’ licenses.

    A slow traffic day will be staged Sunday. The commission will organize more than 300 bicycle riders to tour around Lianhua Hill Park to promote slow traffic and low carbon commuting.

    At the launch ceremony Wednesday, the commission opened 10 rush hour buses linking Shenzhen CBD with nine other districts and new areas. The rush hour buses will help commuters between Xixiang, Shiyan, Dalang, Qinghu, Lilang and Buji and the city’s CBD.

    Route 71, which links Qinghu Metro Station and Exhibition Center Station via Xincai, was praised by riders since it will save riders who used to take bus 329 or had to switch subway lines twice to get to their destinations at least 30 minutes each way every day.