The modern reincarnation is the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT; Also called Bus Rapid Transit System [BRTS], busway, Transitway) which offers dedicated bus routes/lanes to reduce interaction with traffic. Route 71 (also known as the Shanghai Ba-Shi Public Transportation Group’s Medium-Capacity Traffic project) has 66 buses serving a 17.5 km route (~1 hour; ~17.5 km/hr), opering under the Yan’an Elevated road, offering 25 stops within Minhang,Changning, Jiang’An and Huangpu districts. Cost is 2 rmb.
I transferred from line 8 to line 71 at Dashijie 大世界 , with a quick walk and climbing of stairs to get to the middle of Yan’an Road. The station was nicely designed with seating, planters or garbage bins and large screens providing information. My bus was a shorter one, so I had to quickly make my way to the end of the station to catch it. On-board, a quick scan of the metro card made it an easy transfer. I may have even gotten a discount since I was just riding the metro. The bus was narrow, but decently spacious. I wasn’t able to get a seat, but the ride was smooth. Before long I was at the terminal station, close to the bund. This route offers excellent south bund access, which did not exist before. I can tell that I will be using this route much more in the future.
