Chapter 1842

He said, "He is also a talent. Not bad, they are all doing quite well."

An Dachang then talked about the vocational training school. The school had now recruited its first batch of over two hundred students. These students had already been pre-booked by those investment enterprises currently under construction. These enterprises were very welcoming of workers who possessed such specialized skills.

After roughly outlining the latest progress on the resettlement of laid-off workers, An Dachang's expression turned solemn: "County Magistrate Su, I think we should now put the issue of public buses on the agenda."

"Public buses?" Su Xinghui said, "Hmm, tell me more."

Su Xinghui had long thought about the issue of public buses. Now that the new district of Changshan County had been built quite well, there was a distance of nearly ten kilometers from the south side of Changshan County to the north, and transportation was indeed becoming quite inconvenient.

An Dachang said, "Many people still live in the old city, but their workplaces have moved to the new district. They have to commute from the old city to the new district; the furthest ones have to walk seven or eight kilometers. Even by bicycle, it takes half an hour if you're slow, and it's quite tiring. Taking a taxi or a 'mamu' every day is also unbearable. Besides, the safety hazards of 'mamu' are not small, so I think we should introduce public buses."

Although 'mamu' were cheap, it was truly unbearable to take them to and from work every day. Taking them four times a day cost four yuan, which was nearly one hundred yuan a month. Compared to the wages at this time, this was too extravagant.

Taking a bus was different. A bus ride cost at most a few jiao, and if you took the bus every day, you could buy a monthly pass, which was even cheaper.

Su Xinghui nodded and said, "I have also thought about the issue you mentioned. First, tell me, if we are to introduce public buses, how many routes should we arrange now, and roughly how much capital is needed?"

An Dachang said, "We can arrange two routes now: one from the east of the city to the new district, and one from the south of the city to the new district, with the route passing through the west side of the city. In this way, the bus routes could cover almost the entire county town. As for the capital, it would take about four million yuan."

"This four million yuan is calculated this way: for these two bus routes, five buses per route should be enough for now. A total of ten buses would cost about two million yuan. The remaining two million would be for the infrastructure of the bus company and working capital. Of course, the bus company would likely need some subsidies from the county treasury every year in the future."

Su Xinghui said, "What about the personnel?"

An Dachang said, "The personnel can be split off from the Transportation Bureau. Let the Transportation Bureau allocate a portion of management staff, and then recruit drivers and conductors from society, giving priority to laid-off workers."

Su Xinghui nodded and said, "Fine, this idea of yours is very good. I think it's feasible. You should prepare a report on establishing the bus company as soon as possible, clearly writing down the reasons, routes, required capital, and the personnel needed. We will report it together to County Magistrate Shi and Secretary Ling."

An Dachang nodded and said, "Okay, I will get it done as soon as possible."

Su Xinghui said, "After the bus company is established, the 'mamu' will have to be banned. The safety hazards of 'mamu' are too great. However, don't use a 'one-size-fits-all' approach for now. Issue a notice giving a deadline of a few months for the 'mamu' drivers to find their own way. If they are still using 'mamu' to carry passengers after a few months, then confiscate them as appropriate."

An Dachang said, "Then what kind of 'way' should they find?"

Su Xinghui thought for a moment and said, "We can also help them find re-employment by comparing it to the treatment of laid-off workers. Besides, if they still want to drive 'mamu,' they can, but they cannot carry passengers, only cargo. And every 'mamu' must be registered and brought under the management of the transportation department."

An Dachang nodded and said, "Okay, now I know what to do."

Su Xinghui said, "Then set some road sections where 'mamu' are prohibited or restricted. In short, our Changshan County must become better and better, becoming cleaner, more beautiful, civilized, and tidy."

An Dachang said, "Yes, Changshan County is now a tourist city, and the city's appearance needs to be better. 'Mamu' really affect the city's appearance too much."

In Su Xinghui's vision, Changshan County would be built into a city primarily focused on tourism, striving to develop tourism-related industries to a level of several billion within a few years, and the development of industry and animal husbandry must not affect the tourism industry.

Since it is primarily focused on tourism, the urban construction of Changshan County must be clean, beautiful, civilized, and tidy. Phenomena like 'mamu' carrying passengers must absolutely not be seen in Changshan County. Even for carrying cargo, they must not run on the main roads.

Of course, banning 'mamu' also requires a process. After all, the common people of Changshan County still have a practical need for 'mamu' now, and the 'mamu' drivers also need time to find new ways to make a living.

Now Su Xinghui has given them a buffer period of a few months. A few months later, the bus company will have just finished being established. By then, the buses can perfectly take over the functions of the 'mamu' and become the main force of urban transportation.

After An Dachang went back, he immediately ordered the County Transportation Bureau to produce a report on establishing the bus company as soon as possible. Very quickly, this report was produced. In fact, An Dachang had already made arrangements for this matter, and the County Transportation Bureau had long been prepared for it; now that a report was needed, they could produce it immediately.

Su Xinghui and An Dachang, together with this report, went to report to Shi Ronghuai and Ling Anguo again.

The two of them read the report and listened to An Dachang's report, and they quite readily agreed to the request to establish a bus company.

The pace of urban development in Changshan County was too fast, so fast that both Shi Ronghuai and Ling Anguo felt they couldn't keep up. Of course, they could see that the city of Changshan was getting bigger and bigger, but transportation was becoming increasingly inconvenient. Even they had to spend over ten minutes sitting in their official cars every time they went to the new district; one can imagine how inconvenient it was for the ordinary people.

Many leaders of county agencies and units had also reflected this to them, saying that it was not very convenient for their staff to commute. The office buildings of these units had moved to the new district, but the dormitories had not kept up, so their staff still lived in the old city. Without buses, commuting to and from work was naturally very inconvenient.

Since this was a need for urban construction and didn't cost much money, what reason did they have to oppose it? Besides, the city being built better and better was also an achievement for them.

Shi Ronghuai said, "Comrade An Dachang, have you looked at the buses? What model? Which factory produced them?"

An Dachang said, "The Transportation Bureau has already sent people to the Jiangcheng Bus Factory to take a look. They have taken a liking to a Jiangcheng-brand 33-seat large bus. The price is not expensive, about twenty thousand plus for the whole thing on the road, and the quality is quite good. Now, some of the buses on the streets of Jiangcheng are this model. I have photos here."

An Dachang took a few photos out of his bag and handed them to Shi Ronghuai and Ling Anguo.

After looking at them, Shi Ronghuai nodded and said, "I think it's good, it's quite pretty. Running on the streets of Changshan can also enhance the city's image. Secretary, what do you think?"