Guidelines for Rural Road Passenger Transport Operation Services (Trial)

Notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Transport on Printing and Distributing the Guidelines for Rural Road Passenger Transport Operation Services (for Trial Implementation).

Jiao Ban Yun Han [2024] No. 1237

Transportation departments (bureaus and commissions) of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:

In order to thoroughly implement the deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on comprehensively promoting rural revitalization, continue to consolidate and expand the achievements of qualified townships and organized villages in connecting buses, standardize the operation of rural road passenger transport, and improve the quality of rural road passenger transport services, our ministry has organized and formulated the "Rural Road Passenger Transport Operation Service Guide (Trial)", which is hereby issued to you, please implement it in combination with the actual situation.

General Office of the Ministry of Transport

June 24, 2024

(This is a public release)

Guidelines for Rural Road Passenger Transport Operation Services (Trial)

Chapter I: General Provisions

Article 1 In order to standardize the operation of rural road passenger transport and improve the quality of rural road passenger transport services, this guide is formulated in accordance with the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Road Transport, the Regulations on the Administration of Road Passenger Transport and Passenger Stations, etc.

Article 2 The term "rural road passenger transport" in this guide refers to the passenger transport activities within the county-level administrative area or between adjacent counties, with at least one end of the starting and ending places in the countryside and mainly serving rural residents, and the service modes include shuttle bus passenger transport (including public transport operation), regional operation and reservation response.

Article 3: All localities should ensure that qualified villages open rural roads for passenger transport and operate them stably, and provide universal services for rural residents to travel.

Article 4 Encourage the implementation of large-scale, corporatized and intensive operation of rural road passenger transport. Encourage rural road passenger transport operators to carry out the integration of passengers, freight and mail, transportation and tourism on the premise of ensuring the demand for passenger travel and travel safety, so as to enhance the sustainable development capacity of rural road passenger transport.

Chapter 2 Operational Basis

Article 5 Rural road passenger transport operators shall obtain a road passenger transport business license, be equipped with passenger vehicles that meet the operational requirements in accordance with the regulations, employ drivers and management service personnel suitable for the operation business, and carry out operational activities within the prescribed business scope.

Sixth rural road passenger vehicles in line with the relevant requirements of the technical management of road transport vehicles, to obtain a legal and valid road transport certificate. Rural road passenger transport operators operating on rural passenger, freight and mail cooperation routes should choose passenger cars that meet the technical requirements of rural passenger, freight and mail integration development and adaptation vehicle selection. Encourage qualified areas to unify the selection of rural road passenger vehicles, unify body identification, and promote the use of new energy, clean energy and other energy-saving and environmentally friendly vehicles.

Article 7 Rural road passenger transport drivers shall obtain a motor vehicle driver's license consistent with the type of vehicle that is allowed to drive, as well as a road passenger transport qualification certificate, and their physical conditions shall meet the requirements of the post.

Article 8 Rural road passenger transport operators shall carry out pre-job training, safety education and training and regular assessment of road passenger transport drivers in accordance with regulations, and promptly organize education and training in safety, service, laws and regulations, new technologies, etc., to ensure that relevant personnel are familiar with the operating procedures and emergency handling procedures of the workplace, and abide by laws and regulations and provide civilized services.

Chapter III Organization of Transportation

Article 9 Rural road passenger transport operators shall provide services such as shuttle bus passenger transport (including public transport operation), regional operation, and reservation response in accordance with local conditions in combination with local terrain conditions, economic development level, and public travel needs, so as to improve the pertinence of the supply of rural road passenger transport services.

Encourage the orderly extension of urban bus lines to rural areas or the implementation of shuttle bus passenger transport operation in places with a high level of urbanization and greater travel needs of rural people.

Article 10 Operators providing rural shuttle bus passenger transport services may, in accordance with the travel needs of the rural masses, independently increase the number of departures under the condition of meeting the lower limit of the daily departure of the route business license.

Article 11 Operators providing regional business services may reasonably determine the operating routes and transport capacity according to the travel needs of the masses in the business area.

Article 12 Operators that provide reservation response services shall publish the name of the operator, the name of the reservation telephone number or online platform, the operation service area, and the service supervision telephone number at the boarding point, to ensure that the reservation service telephone is unimpeded or the online reservation channel is in normal operation, respond to passengers' service needs in a timely manner, and arrive at the reserved boarding location within the promised response time.

Article 13 Rural road passenger transport operators shall strengthen the study and judgment of passenger flow during key periods such as busy agricultural seasons and holidays, formulate transportation guarantee plans in advance, reasonably plan and set up pick-up and drop-off points, and provide services such as busy agricultural shifts and rush classes, so as to meet the collective and tidal travel needs of the rural masses to the greatest extent.

Rural road passenger station operators shall publish information on the operation of incoming vehicles and routes in a conspicuous position, including the departure and arrival places of the routes, stopovers, departure times of the first and last trains, the interval between shifts, seasonal or temporary adjustment information, fares, supervision service telephones, etc.

Article 14 Where a rural road passenger transport operator suspends or terminates its operation within the period of operation, it shall notify the original licensing authority 30 days in advance.

Article 15 Rural road passenger transport operators are encouraged to use information systems to achieve dispatch management, operation monitoring, information release, statistical analysis and decision support.

Chapter IV: Operational Services

Article 16 Rural road passenger transport operators shall formulate service standards, disclose their service commitments to the public, establish a mechanism for handling reports and complaints, and take the initiative to accept social supervision.

Article 17 Rural road passenger transport operators shall mark the name of the enterprise, the number of passengers approved and the telephone number of service supervision in a conspicuous position on the body of the vehicle, and publicize the driver's name and qualification certificate number, the telephone number of the transportation service supervision, the fare and odometer and other information in a conspicuous position in the carriage, as well as the reminder information such as the prohibition of smoking and civilized riding. Unmanned ticketing vehicles are equipped with service facilities such as coin machines (boxes) and electronic card readers that meet the regulations.

Article 18 Rural road passenger transport operators shall keep the compartment clean and tidy, the inner wall of the vehicle, the roof strip and the floor of the carriage intact, the seats, handrails, guardrails, handles and other devices in the vehicle shall be complete and effective, and the installation shall be firm, and the door and window glass shall be free of defects, the switch shall be light and well sealed.

Article 19 Rural road passenger transport operators shall not change vehicles or hand over passengers to others for transportation on the way. If the vehicle fails to continue to drive safely, the reason shall be explained to the passenger and a free transfer to another vehicle shall be arranged in time to deliver the passenger to the destination. If it is necessary to abandon the station or divert the operation due to special reasons, explain to the passengers.

Article 20 On the basis of giving full consideration to the level of local economic development, the operating costs of enterprises and the affordability of the rural people, establish a fare system for the passenger transport ticket system on rural roads that is affordable, financially affordable, and sustainable in operation.

In principle, rural shuttle bus passenger transport (including public transport operation) and regional operation of rural road passenger transport shall be subject to government guidance price management; The market adjustment price can be implemented in response to the reservation response to rural road passenger transport, but the service price shall not be higher than twice the benchmark price of the local rural shuttle bus passenger transport guide price in principle, and the price shall be relatively stable.

Article 21 Rural road passenger transport operators are encouraged to use mobile terminals, websites, apps, electronic stop signs, service hotlines, etc., to provide rural people with passenger information inquiry and fare payment services such as routes and shift operations.

Chapter 5 Transportation Safety

Article 22 Rural road passenger transport operators shall strictly implement the main responsibility for production safety, establish, improve and strictly implement the responsibility system for production safety and the production safety management system for all employees, strengthen the basic guarantee of production safety, improve the conditions for production safety, do a good job in the safety management of vehicles and personnel, and ensure transportation safety.

Article 23 Rural road passenger transport operators shall strengthen the technical management of vehicle safety, do a good job of routine vehicle safety inspections in accordance with regulations, eliminate potential safety hazards in a timely manner, strengthen the inspection of safety facilities and emergency devices such as seat belts, emergency hammers, fire extinguishers, etc., maintain them regularly and repair them in a timely manner, so as to ensure that the technical condition of passenger vehicles is in good condition.

Article 24 Rural road passenger transport operators shall organize drivers to familiarize themselves with the road conditions of the operating routes in advance, grasp the weather conditions in a timely manner, do a good job of driving safety inspections before departure, and strictly prohibit speeding, overcrowding, and fatigue driving.

Article 25 Rural road passenger transport operators shall strengthen the investigation of potential safety hazards on their operating routes, and take targeted measures to eliminate potential safety hazards in a timely manner. For potential safety hazards that are difficult to rectify by the enterprises themselves, rural road passenger transport operators should take risk prevention and control measures in a timely manner and report to the local transportation authorities.

Article 26 Rural road passenger transport operators using passenger vehicles to carry out passenger, freight and mail cooperation business shall comply with the "Catalogue of Road Passenger Vehicles Prohibited, Restricted and Consigned Items", "Passenger Shuttle Bus Baggage Compartment Cargo Transport Specifications", "Rural Passenger, Freight and Mail Integration Development Adaptation Vehicle Selection Technical Requirements (Trial)" and other relevant provisions, shall not exceed the maximum allowable load weight.

Article 27 Rural road passenger transport operators should pay attention to the weather conditions and road traffic conditions of the operating routes, and promptly remind the drivers to drive cautiously in case of fog, freezing, rain and snow, natural disasters, etc., and if the conditions for safe passage of vehicles are not met, the passenger routes shall be suspended or adjusted in accordance with the regulations.

Article 28 Rural road passenger transport operators are encouraged to install satellite positioning and intelligent video surveillance devices, strengthen the dynamic monitoring of vehicles and drivers, and promptly discover and effectively correct unsafe driving behavior.

Encourage rural road passenger transport operators to use the dynamic monitoring system to give early warning reminders to the weather conditions along the line and the precautions for safe driving, and urge drivers to drive safely and abide by the law.

Chapter VI: Supervision and Management

Article 29 The competent departments of transportation in all localities shall establish a system for social supervision and complaint handling of the quality of rural road passenger transport services, unblock channels such as the 12328 transportation service supervision telephone, promptly accept and solve the problems related to rural road passenger transport reported by the masses, and urge rural road passenger transport operators to take corresponding improvement measures in a timely manner and continuously improve the quality of services.

Article 30 The competent departments of transportation in all localities shall establish and improve the subsidy compensation system for the operation of rural road passenger transport, and use the subsidy funds for rural road passenger transport in full to support the development of rural road passenger transport (including rural shuttle bus passenger transport, regional operation, reservation response, and rural bus and tram), and ensure the stable operation of rural road passenger transport.

Encourage all localities to establish a financial investment mechanism for rural road passenger transport that is compatible with local financial capacity.

Article 31 The competent departments of transportation in all localities shall establish and improve the evaluation mechanism for the quality of rural road passenger transport services, and strengthen the application of the assessment results. Encourage all localities to apply the results of the assessment of the quality of rural road passenger transport services to the government's purchase of rural road passenger transport services, the issuance of financial subsidies, etc., and guide operators to continuously improve safety management and service quality.

All localities can carry out the monitoring of rural road passenger transport operation on a regular basis through information means such as vehicle dynamic monitoring and on-site spot checks, and strengthen the supervision and verification of rural road passenger transport services.

Article 32 The competent departments of transportation in all localities shall strengthen the supervision and inspection of the safe production of passenger transport on rural roads, promote the "Internet + supervision" model, and increase the intensity of investigation and punishment of illegal operations.

Encourage local departments in charge of transportation to actively work with public security and other departments to strengthen publicity on the safety of rural road passenger transport, guide rural people to choose compliant passenger vehicles to travel, and refuse to take illegal vehicles.

Chapter VII: Supplementary Provisions

Article 33 The meanings of the following terms in these Guidelines:

(A) rural shuttle bus passenger transport refers to the county-level administrative area or adjacent counties, the operator who has obtained the road passenger line business license to use passenger cars to run on a fixed line, at least one end of the starting and ending places in the countryside and mainly provide travel services for the rural masses road passenger transport business activities.

(2) Rural shuttle bus passenger transport operation refers to the use of passenger vehicles by rural shuttle bus operators to transport passengers, through encrypted departures, set up fixed stops, the implementation of preferential fares, etc., to achieve high-density, small intervals, station stop operation of rural road passenger transport services.

(3) The regional operation of rural road passenger transport refers to the form of rural road passenger transport service in which a business entity or all business entities in the area reach an agreement between a business entity and a unified dispatch within a specific area approved by the licensing authority, and the operator independently determines the route, time, station and shift arrangement according to the travel needs of the rural masses.

(4) Rural road passenger transport reservation response refers to the rural road passenger transport service form in which operators publicize the business area, service time and reservation method in advance, accept passenger travel car reservations through telephone, Internet and other means, and use commercial vehicles to provide personalized travel services for passengers according to the requirements of the place of departure, destination, and travel time initiated by passengers.

Article 34 In other forms of passenger transport in rural areas, where buses, trams and waterways are opened, they may be implemented with reference to the relevant administrative provisions on urban public transport and waterway transport respectively.

Article 35: These Guidelines take effect on September 1, 2024.