Ensuring safety

After the parcels have been sorted, they are loaded onto scheduled buses to begin their journey to the customers.

To ensure safe transit, buses that carry both passengers and parcels have been modified. The seats in the rear half of the vehicle have been removed and a transparent partition has been installed to separate passengers from the parcels. The passengers take the front half of the bus, while the parcels take the rear.

"Most express parcels are not heavy as they are mostly small items. However, for safety reasons, we have installed partitions to separate them from the passengers to ensure that the parcels and the riders won't collide in the event of sudden braking," Ren said.

When a route 61 bus stopped at the distribution center at Anren town on Aug 30, workers immediately unloaded the parcels.

Many villagers quickly lined up at the center to collect their parcels. Lu Hengyi, a recent high school graduate, had bought some school supplies and snacks in preparation for college, so he picked up a number of parcels at the center on Aug 30.

"I usually come to pick up several packages each time," he said, adding that it is convenient to collect the parcels from the center.

"It takes about five to six minutes to travel from my home (by electric bike) to the center to pick up parcels. It is quicker than before."