There is a special bus line in Jucun township, Qujiang district, Quzhou, Zhejiang province, which is located at the border of Quzhou and Lishui and consists of mountain towns.

Route 783 is operated by a single seven-seater new energy minivan. It travels over 130 kilometers of mountain roads daily, transporting villagers living scattered across the hills to other villages or to main roads.

Despite its small size, the minivan is fully equipped with all standard bus facilities: a dashcam, GPS, cameras, a bus management system, a coin machine, and a card reader.

"The road conditions on my route are complex, with narrow paths, so a minivan is more agile. And there are fewer passengers here, making a large bus unsuitable for village roads," said Huang Jianmin, the driver of Route 783.

In 2021, Quzhou started integrating urban and rural bus services, bringing private transport enterprises under public ownership. After that, ticket prices became more affordable, and seniors now enjoy benefits like free rides for those over 70 years old and half-price fares for those over 60 years old.

In August, Route 783 collected just over 650 yuan ($91) in coins, averaging less than 19 yuan per day.

Editor: Xu Zhitian