The bus system in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, has fallen into a "wage arrears"? Recently, Jinan Gangcheng District Bus Station issued an announcement saying that due to "special reasons", all bus lines in the jurisdiction will be completely suspended. What's even more shocking is that according to a bus driver, the company has not paid wages for half a year, and this year's pension insurance is also "in arrears". Seeing that the bus in front of the house said "strike" and "strike", the citizens exclaimed, "The provincial capital can't bear it"? In the face of the ensuing doubts, the competent authorities and bus companies are still "pretending to be deaf and dumb". What's going on here?
On June 25 this year, a "Jinan Gangcheng District Bus Station issued an announcement that all bus lines would be suspended for special reasons" The news sparked heated discussions on the Internet.
The announcement was vague and did not mention the reason for the suspension. Subsequently, a reporter from Qilu Evening News contacted Jinan Gangcheng District Changyun Bus Co., Ltd., and the staff confirmed that the matter was true, but said that they were "still waiting for notice" when to resume operation. More exciting inside information followed. A bus driver, who did not want to be named, told reporters that the company had owed employees half a year's wages, and only once in January this year. And the pension insurance in 2023 is even more unpaid. Employees have long been complaining, and now they have finally protested against the unscrupulous boss with "lying flat".
However, the problem does not seem to be that simple. It is reported that Jinan Gangcheng District Bus is wholly owned by the local Changyun Company. However, the latter has a complex shareholding structure, with the majority shareholder being the trade union committee, holding more than 70% of the shares; The second shareholder is Jinan Rail Transit, which indirectly holds nearly 30% of the shares. Although it is located in Jinan, the public transportation in Gangcheng District is not directly related to the public transportation in the main urban area. For a long time, the state of its operations was not optimistic. Due to factors such as policy losses, it has become the norm to make ends meet. A person familiar with the matter said that the company's executives were lavishly treated, with more office staff than drivers, and operating costs had risen sharply. In the case that financial subsidies cannot keep up, the wage arrears scandal may be just a fuse.
In fact, as a quasi-public welfare undertaking, public transport has never been the focus of profit.
Especially in county towns and villages, bus lines bear the important task of ensuring people's livelihood travel. Ticket prices are low and even free for seniors. Without the strong support of the government, it is difficult for any public transport company to continue. At present, with the surge in the number of private cars, the number of bus riders continues to decline. Coupled with the impact of e-commerce takeaways, the idling rate of many lines remains high. Once the local finances are in an emergency and the subsidies are not in place in time, the bus will face the danger of "shutting down" at any time.
Regrettably, many counties and cities in Shandong have also experienced similar dilemmas. Last year, the incident of sanitation workers in Changqing District asking for wages caused an uproar in public opinion. The suspension of buses in the provincial capital of Jinan has once again detonated the public's concern about the livelihood of the grassroots people. Think about it, in the "developed" provincial capitals, the livelihood of public transport workers is not guaranteed, let alone other underdeveloped areas? On the other hand, the current surge in the unemployment army, but the pension has been raised, and the employment problem of young people is even more thorny. In the face of the cold winter of all industries, who can be alone?
Objectively speaking, to resolve the dilemma of public transportation, it may be difficult to sustain it by relying on the strength of the enterprise alone.
This requires local governments to take a holistic approach and come up with systematic measures. For example, the bus route is scientifically optimized to reduce unnecessary losses; For example, increase the "bus priority" efforts to improve the riding experience; For example, innovate business models and develop revenue channels such as advertising and leasing. Of course, the most important thing is to increase financial investment, not only to protect the rights and interests of practitioners, but also to provide high-quality services to the public. Only when all parties work together to build a sustainable public transport ecosystem can everyone enjoy convenient mobility.
Epilogue:
So in the end, I would like to ask: when the county buses are paralyzed one after another, the once proud provincial capital will not be able to escape the cold winter, which may indicate that a more severe employment situation is quietly coming? Is it time for each of us to take precautions? What do you think about this?