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July 15, 2014

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Home » District » Songjiang

History of buses through the eyes of ‘big nose’ driver

ALMOST 60 years ago, photographer Wu Siyi took a picture at the front gate of the old Songjiang Military Service Bureau on Zhongshan Road.

In the forefront is an old-fashioned bus on the then Shanghai-Songjiang line — a round-bodied bus with a huge red star and bulging protrusion on the front.

“Wasn’t it a big Dodge we drove?” asked Sun Genmu, 60, who once was a driver on the route.

“We nicknamed the bus ‘big nose.’ It was tough and could carry 50 people. The bus line to downtown Shanghai was more than 50 kilometers, and a single journey took 70 minutes. I still remember the fare. It was 55 fen (now about 9 US cents).”

Sun became a bus driver after retiring from the army in 1968. During his four decades in that job, he witnessed the evolution of Songjiang’s transport system.

He has just finished helping the local road transport bureau compile the “Songjiang’s History of Transportation.”

The history traces passenger transport that began in 1932, when Shanghai Songjiang Long Distance Co. purchased nine coaches and launched the first bus line from Songjiang to Beiqiao in what is now the Minhang District.

In 1957, the bus line began operating along the newly built Husong Road connecting the district and downtown Shanghai.

During the 1990s, the district had three bus lines connecting to city centers and 13 local bus lines. Today, however, there are 113 lines, with more than 750 buses operating throughout the district.

Sun looks back on his career with fond nostalgia.

“We were trained to be versatile,” he recalled. “When I drove the old Dodge, I had to yell out the name of each stop when we came to it.”

The bus had no automatic doors. Sun had to manually open doors with a rope and pulley system. “Sometimes at the big stops, such as Sijing and Qibao towns, there were so many passengers that I had to shut the engine off, get out and help push people onto the bus,” Sun said.

Nowadays, one bus pretty much looks like the next in a local system, but in the early days of public transport in Songjiang, the service tapped anything available.

“The buses were of different nationalities, shapes, types and colors,” Sun said. “It was like the United Nations of transport.”

Sun recalls having to drive backups from France or Czechoslovakia if his American “big nose” conked out and needed repairs.

“The most miserable thing was to drive English buses because the driver’s seat was on the right,” Sun said. “The first time I drove an English bus, I was sweating. I had never steered with my right hand while shifting gears with my left hand. You can’t imagine how nervous I was!”

Modern bus stops come with smartly designed shelters, benches and schedule boards, some even with LED screens. But during the 1960s, a bus stop was just a wooden post and an old weathered board.

“It wasn’t until the end of the 1970s that metal signboards and posts appeared,” Sun said. “The bus stops were made of brick and wood.”

In 1998, Songjiang installed its first stainless-steel bus stop to shield waiting passengers from sun and rain.

Sun has his own car now, but old habits die hard. He said he still favors public transport as his first option when going out. And he still enjoys keeping abreast of new developments in transport.

In the past 20 years, Songjiang’s public transport system has certainly undergone dramatic changes, with the expansion of bus lines penetrating almost every corner of the district. Bus designs and seating comfort have been modernized. Electricity-powered buses have been added to the fleet.

“My generation might not be as good as today’s young bus drivers in dealing with high-tech vehicles, but we were extremely dedicated to our jobs and had a high sense of responsibility,” Sun said. “We are proud of that. I hope today’s young drivers are equally dedicated to passengers when the engine starts and the wheels are rolling.”




 

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