During the two sessions this year, Tang Yuxiang, president of Zhengzhou Yutong Group Co., Ltd., from the passenger car industry, and Li Shupeng, chairman of Zhongtong Bus Holdings Co., Ltd., invariably paid attention to the promotion of school buses. They saw the school bus. The bottleneck encountered in the road to development has provided new ideas for the sustainable development of school buses.
Development stagnation School bus sales decline year after year
After six years of school bus promotion in China, from the rapid rise to slow development to the continuous shrinking of the market, it can be said that the school bus industry has been struggling.
In 2012, China issued the first “Regulations on School Bus Safety Management.” This year, the school bus industry in China ushered in blow-out development, with sales of 27,000 vehicles that year. Almost all passenger car companies have entered the market. 2013 The school bus continued to grow, reaching 28,000 vehicles. Since then, school bus sales have declined year-on-year. By 2017, the school bus sold only 13,800 vehicles, a sharp drop of 44.51% compared to the same period of last year, and still insisted on school bus manufacturing. The number of bus companies in the business has been reduced from more than 30 in its peak period to about 20. In the first two months of 2018, the school bus market still has no improvement. In total, 1,792 school buses were sold, a decrease of 10.34% compared with the same period of last year.
Although the sales of school buses continued to decline, the reporter interviewed a number of bus company sales personnel that the demand for school buses is still strong in many areas. 'From the market distribution, the provinces with the largest demand for school buses in China are mainly concentrated in Guangdong, Hunan, and Hubei. , Henan, Shandong and other regions. These regions have one or more of the following characteristics: Better economic conditions, more private schools; Local governments have stronger support for school buses; Well managed, timely subsidies; Serious school bus safety has occurred The accident caused local attention. "The relevant person in charge of Xiamen Jinlong said.
According to the statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics, there are about 460,000 kindergartens, elementary schools and junior high schools in China. If the number of school buses is used to calculate the demand for school buses, the gap between ideals and reality is very large. Tang Yuxiang stated in the proposal that, according to statistics, With more than 180 million primary and middle school students, the actual demand for school buses has been conservatively estimated at more than 1 million. However, the actual number of school buses currently has only 160,000, and a large number of school children cannot enjoy the safety and convenience brought by school buses. Li Shupeng pointed out in his proposal. As of 2016, there were approximately 393,000 vehicles for domestic use of children for study and school use, of which only 89,000 specialized school buses accounted for 22.6%. A large number of vans and non-standard school buses are still carrying children's transfers. Security risks.
For the current situation in which the development of school buses is slow or even stagnant, Tang Yuxiang stated in the proposal: 'If we do not pay enough attention and actively respond, it will not only be detrimental to the sustainable development of school buses, but will even weaken the previous construction achievements.'
Just need no school bus available
In fact, contrary to the year-on-year decline in sales, school buses still have a large market demand.
'In the city, it is very inconvenient for parents of dual-employees to go to work and pick up children. If there is a school bus transfer, it is safe and labor-saving. 'According to Xin Minghui, a Higer bus salesman, the most urgent needs of school buses are kindergartens and primary schools. Because children of this age group lack independent capacity, even if there is a bus or a class bus, parents do not have confidence that the children can ride alone.
Compared with the urban areas, the demand for school buses in townships and townships is even greater. According to Min Zhihao, senior advisor to the Bus Division of the China Highway Institute, the urban public transport system is well-developed, but rural towns and villages often do not have the conditions to use buses, so the school bus is rigid. demand.
In addition, as rural areas withdraw from small-scale and poor-quality schools, more and more rural students are far away from school. It is difficult to go to school. The data released by the Institute of Finance and Technology of Peking University in 2016 shows that students in rural areas in China go on average to go to school one way. The distance is 5.4 km. Rural middle school students have an average one-way distance of 17.5 km. Many students go to school each day for 4 to 5 hours. 'It is precisely because rural children have difficulty getting to school, so the school bus is more necessary for them. ' Fukuda Ou Hui, bus sales manager, said.
Actually, school buses that transport children to and from schools are just needed in cities and townships. But in real life, schools with school buses are few. According to Song Yaowei, sales manager of Yutong Bus, there are few school buses in public schools in Guangdong. Only some private schools will uniformly purchase school buses and pick up and drop off students. Haig Bus Sales Manager Gong Quanzhi told reporters: 'From 2012 to 2013, when the state promoted the use of professional school buses, many schools in Gansu Province purchased school buses. However, in recent years, not only has the school bus run out of sight, but the number of schools that have taken the initiative to purchase school buses is also very rare.
There is no school bus, but the demand for car does not disappear out of thin air. Schools and parents can only look for some 'expedient measures'. Song Yaowei said: 'Some schools cooperate with passenger transport companies and hire buses to shuttle students to and from school.' Zhi told reporters: 'Some parents will find private vans to pick up children. However, because they are not regular school buses, they lack safety protection equipment. Once an emergency situation arises, problems are likely to arise.'
High school bus operation costs are difficult to manage
Since the school bus has a huge market demand, why is the promotion stuck in a bottleneck?
The reporter learned that the fundamental reason lies in the fact that professional school buses not only have high cost of car purchases, but all types of operating expenses are also higher than ordinary rental vehicles.
'In 2012, the country to promote the professional school bus, local women's federations from us to buy a school bus donated to rural schools, six months after we went to visit and found the car stopped at the school, did not used.' Xin Minghui to The reporter calculated a sum of money to run a school bus. The driver’s salary plus five insurance and one gold is at least 6,000 yuan per month, which is 72,000 yuan per year; 30 school buses have an annual insurance of about 40,000 yuan; plus On the cost of fuel, maintenance costs, etc., calculate the annual cost of a school bus is nearly 150,000 yuan.
In addition, in accordance with state regulations, the school bus for transfer students only, it can not be used. That is, sooner or later, school buses generally run 2 times a day, the rest can only be placed, weekend, summer vacation must be suspended, which makes school bus operators extremely difficult. 'travel expenses if a child is 300 yuan per month, a professional school bus can seat 40 students, and that the cost of operations is not enough. even a semester each received 3,000 yuan deducted driver wages, vehicle maintenance Costs, etc., are still under great operating pressure, and the 3,000-yuan charge has become too high for many parents. ' Xin Minghui said.
Bow wise told reporters: 'Now boarding schools gradually increased, many schools take students back to school on Sunday afternoon, Friday afternoon to send students home a week and ran twice this case, if you buy a professional school bus, then. Most of the time is idle, the school simply can't afford it.'
Funding is essential to exploring other operating models
For high school bus operating costs of the issue, Tang Yuxiang mentioned in the proposal, 'count depreciation expense, a school bus takes about 10 years to recover the cost, if there is no government subsidies difficult to maintain, and even some operators were caught in unsustainable situation . '
In the process of school bus promotion in China, reporters from China Auto News visited several regions, including Deqing County, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, which is known as the “Deqing Model.” Each local student spends only one yuan each time he takes a school bus. Thanks to the Deqing County government's subsidy of school bus operation of more than 4 million yuan per year to ensure school bus operation balance. It is important to know that Deqing County is one of the top 100 counties in China's comprehensive strength, and is also one of the pilot regions for school bus promotion in China.
In addition, the reporter of China Auto News had previously visited the school bus service center in Huanghua City. It is the first specialized school bus operator in Hebei Province. The local model is that each student pays 100 to 120 yuan per semester, and the Huanghua Municipal Government Each student is given a subsidy of RMB 150. Tian Zengjun, the person in charge of the school bus service center in Huangqi City, once told reporters: 'If school bus operators leave the support of the state and the local government, it is very difficult to maintain them.'
It can be seen that the promotion of school bus is indeed inseparable from the government's financial support. Zhai Zhihao pointed out: 'According to national policies, school buses cannot be used for other purposes. In fact, the seats in the school bus are all tailor-made for children and are relatively small. When buses or buses are used during non-school hours, the operation of school buses really needs the support of local governments and the central government. ' China has a vast territory, diverse environments, and poor economic conditions in some areas. Local governments have difficulty. Subsidizing the school bus. Tang Yuxiang suggested in the proposal, 'set up a national school bus special fund to subsidize and support school bus development, especially for poor areas to increase subsidies and promotion efforts.'
In addition, some people in the industry also made suggestions for the future development of the school bus. Wang Jian, a public transportation scholar at Chongqing Jiaotong University, said, “At the moment, we follow the American school bus model: The school bus is for student use. The US federal government, the state government, and the city The government will give school bus subsidies, so the school bus can pick up and send children for a long time at a price close to free. With China’s economic strength, this kind of subsidy can not be realized immediately. In some underdeveloped areas, we can learn from the European school bus model. That is to say, it is not limited to exclusive use of private cars, but it is the time for attending school to put a school bus sign on passenger trains of class buses. It can pick up students and send them to passengers at other times. This will not only help children get to school, but also reduce operating costs. Improving the efficiency of vehicles and reducing local economic burdens. 'He emphasized that as long as qualified road passenger cars are used, the level of safety is guaranteed, and the most important thing is that the school must manage the transport of students to the train.