The Hangzhou-Changsha section of the Shanghai-Kunming(Hu-Kun) high speed rail(高铁) officially started operation on Dec 10, 2014. The Changsha-Huaihua(Chang-Huai) section of the Hu-Kun high speed rail was also opened to traffic a week later.

“It is no longer a dream" for Changsha residents to "leave for a trip without hesitation", said Changsha Evening, as it is really convenient either to go eastward or westward from Changsha.

During the trial operation of the Chang-Huai section on Dec 9, the G6521 train left Changsha South Railway Station at 8:40 am, arrived at Xiangtan North Station at 8:54 am, Loudi South Station at 9:22 am, and Huaihua South Station at 10:28 am.

Before the opening of the high speed rail. Changsha had 13 regular trains to Huaihua, the fastest of which, the Z149, leaves Changsha at about 6:00 am and arrives at Huaihua at nearly 12:00 am, being more than four hours slower than the high speed train.

The total length of the high speed rail in Hunan province is now more than 1,000 km, covering 10 out of the total 14 prefecture level(地区级的) cities or autonomous districts-much higher than the national average level.

We often hear about schools cutting back on bus routes to save money, yet plenty of communities (社区) have their buses stopping almost as often as the mail truck. While the presence of sidewalks, and the safety of area roads, play a role in who gets house-to-house pickup or end-of-the-street pickup, Peter Mannella, director at the New York Association for Pupil Transportation says community culture can play an even larger role in the transportation situation.

For example: Several years ago, Bethlehem tried spacing out its stops, says Mannella. The parents were unhappy, expressed as much and, within three days, the routes were back to their original frequency. “You can say ‘We are going to save $100,000 by not stopping at every house,’ but parents don’t want their kids walking,” Mannella says. As you’d expect, this is especially true in bad weather or during winter.

As a student in the 1980s, we walked to our stops. The neighborhood wait-spot was a good quarter mile away. Parents didn’t make a fuss (大惊小怪), and no child was injured. In fact, the walking was good—it woke us up each morning. Not to mention, the sense of community that came with hanging out together each morning waiting for bus No. 23 to roll up and take us all to school.

Thing is a lot has changed since the 1980s. Too many people are texting and driving, making them as dangerous on the roads as drunken drivers. And, with reduced work forces at many companies, parents often work longer hours, meaning they aren’t around to guard their kids to and from stops like many parents did when we were growing up.

So I’ll give them an understanding pass on not wanting their children to walk a mile each way to get to and from school. I can’t agree with the complaints of having kids walk to a community neighborhood stop, though. If you worry they’re going to be cold, get them a hat. If you fear they may miss the bus, send them out the door ? Five minutes earlier.

Public transport is in deep water in some countries. To those who have to squeeze onto the number 25 bus in London, or the A-train in New York, the change might not be noticeable. 【小题1】

Although transport agencies blame it on things like roadworks and broken signals, it seems more likely that they are being outcompeted. 【小题2】 Other upstarts like dock-less bicycles and battery powered “e-bikes” are also spreading. Mass transport, on the other hand, is much less flexible.

This is a headache for the operators of public transport systems. 【小题3】 But like it or not, public transport does some things very well. It provides a service for people who are too old, too young, too fearful or too drunk to drive or ride a bike. Trains and subways cause less pollution than cars and move people at far higher densities (密度).

So, how to deal with the problem? 【小题4】 Some cities have created congestion (拥堵) charging zones, but that is a hopelessly crude tool. Most congestion zones in effect sell daily tickets to drive around as much as you like within the zone—and charge vehicles such as taxis and minicabs nothing.

【小题5】 Although new forms of transport often compete with old ones, they ought to go well with each other. Taxi services and app-based cars could get people to and from airports and ports, which are often far from the urban core.