Local governments should offer more aid to bus companies to
develop public transportation, says a commentary in Beijing
News. An excerpt follows:
One of the country's most famous tourist cities, Xiamen, in
Fujian Province, is now confounding tourists. Today, the city names
its bus stops after hospitals or shopping malls that are willing to
pay.
Similar practices take place in other cities, such as Changsha,
in Hunan Province, and Hefei, in Anhui Province.
The public has complained about the commercialization of bus
stop names. It said the practice creates confusion about bus stop
locations among both tourists and residents.
The bus stops should be named after the roads, avenues or nearby
landmark buildings to make their locations clear. Obviously, these
bus stop names are changed to garner revenue for the bus
companies.
According to reports, the bus company in Xiamen runs on an annul
deficit of 30 million yuan (US$3.85 million), which partly
justifies the commercialization of bus stop names.
So, the local government should offer proper subsidies to these
companies to support public services.
However, a survey by the Ministry of Construction says that 42
of the 117 urban bus companies did not get a penny of subsidy from
local governments in 2006.
When bus companies serve the public with low-priced
transportation, they are unable to generate enough return from the
service. If the government does not give them enough money, they
have little choice but to open bids for the names of bus stops.
The central government issued a document in 2006 emphasizing
that the development of public transportation should be a priority.
Local governments should earmark more money for this.
(China Daily May 9, 2007)