How Did Passenger Transport Develop in 2021?
2 Answers
2021 passenger transport development is as follows: Decline in total passenger volume: According to data from the Ministry of Transport, China's commercial passenger transport volume has been declining year by year from 2016 to 2020. Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the domestic commercial passenger volume is estimated to reach 9.665 billion (preliminary calculation), a year-on-year decrease of 45.1%. This is mainly due to factors such as the continuous high growth of private car ownership, leading to the loss of domestic commercial passenger volume. Optimization of passenger transport: From the perspective of changes in the passenger transport structure of different transportation modes, from 2016 to 2020, the proportion of road passenger transport has gradually decreased, while the proportions of railway, civil aviation, and waterway passenger transport have shown an overall upward trend. This reflects the continuous optimization trend of the domestic passenger transport structure in recent years. While the scale of road passenger transport has decreased, the growth rate of high-speed rail, civil aviation, and private cars on highways has been relatively fast, indicating that the public's travel structure is continuously upgrading, the quality of travel is improving, and travel efficiency is increasing. In 2020, domestic road passenger transport volume was 6.89 billion, accounting for 71.33%, railway passenger transport accounted for 22.80%, civil aviation passenger transport accounted for 4.32%, and waterway passenger transport accounted for 1.55%. Currently, road passenger transport is the mode with the largest volume, deepest accessibility, and widest service coverage in the comprehensive passenger transport system. In terms of the decline in passenger volume by different transportation modes, road and waterway passenger volumes saw the largest declines in 2020, dropping by 47.0% and 45.2% respectively, while railway and civil aviation passenger volumes dropped by 39.8% and 36.7% respectively. In the future, with the continuous improvement of people's living standards and the service levels of high-speed rail, civil aviation, and other transportation modes, it is expected that the market space for road passenger transport will be further compressed, and road passenger transport will continue to decline and gradually stabilize.
The development of passenger transport in 2021 was quite interesting. As someone who enjoys exploring cities, I noticed that shared mobility became more popular. Although the pandemic persisted, people grew more accustomed to using apps to hail rides or rent shared bikes. Platforms like Didi and Meituan Bike rolled out more electric versions, making short-distance travel more convenient. These platforms also added health-check features, ensuring contactless payments became mainstream and reducing cash transactions. For long-distance travel, such as high-speed rail and flights, hygiene measures were enhanced, including mandatory mask-wearing and disinfection zones. The digital trend was evident, with smarter booking systems saving time. Although passenger volumes fluctuated due to the pandemic, the overall system became more intelligent and flexible. I observed a rise in the adoption of electric vehicles, contributing to environmental protection, while shared mobility models helped reduce traffic congestion, making travel more sustainable.
