"Never expected that there are also illegal buses for public transportation!" Yesterday, Ms. Zhang from the public reported to our newspaper that near the bus station of line 919 in Deshengmen, Xicheng District, many fake employees dressed in bus uniforms solicited tourists to take "illegal buses". The fare which should be 12 yuan per person for the entire journey was charged up to 55 yuan, and even reached 80 yuan during the Spring Festival, deceiving many tourists from other regions. In response, the staff of line 919 reminded a large number of tourists not to rely on uniforms to identify the authenticity of buses, and not to take buses with abnormal fares.
At around 10 o'clock yesterday morning, according to Ms. Zhang's tip-off, after coming out from Exit A of Jishuitan subway station, walking eastward for about twenty or thirty meters, the reporter encountered three or four groups of people soliciting customers. "Is there anyone going to the Badaling Great Wall? Express bus, leave when full!" The reporter found that many people dressed in bus uniforms mainly solicited business from tourists outside their region, while another part of people dressed casually, holding small red flags, specifically "intercepted" foreign tourists.
Subsequently, the reporter pretended to be a tourist and asked a middle-aged man wearing a blue bus uniform how to take a bus to the Badaling Great Wall. "The departure time has passed, no more buses will depart from Deshengmen, our bus goes directly to Badaling." The middle-aged man confidently told the reporter and the surrounding tourists.
The fare for the illegal bus is about 50 yuan
Seeing the reporter interested, the middle-aged man continued to introduce that the express bus fare to Badaling is 55 yuan per person, slow bus 45 yuan per person, buy tickets after boarding. After introducing these, he then asked the reporter if they had a bus card, "If you have a bus card, it can be 5 yuan cheaper, but the card cannot be used, the machine is broken, only cash payment."
The reporter pursued whether there would be a ticket if paying in cash, and after sizing up the reporter, the man said "no", "It's like this now, don't believe me? Ask others, trust me, there won't be any problems." Then he let the reporter queue up at the bus stop of route 888.
A guide for civilized bus riding at the Deshengmen 919 bus terminal told the reporter that all "buses" soliciting passengers outside the station were illegal, "There are only two routes here that can go to Badaling, one is route 877, the other is the express bus of route 919." But why do those people wear bus uniforms? Many tourists dared to take the bus because of this. Seeing the reporter raise such doubts, the guide shook his head repeatedly, "Bus uniforms can be borrowed, or made by someone following the pattern."
There are multiple prompts around the station
In fact, on the wall at the exit of the Jishuitan subway station, there is a "police tip", which reads: "Passengers going to Badaling: please walk eastward after exiting the station to the north side of the Deshengmen Arrow Tower to take the direct bus of route 919 to the Badaling Great Wall, or go to the east side of the arrow tower to take the express bus of route 919." And lists the single-trip fare as 12 yuan per person, 4.8 yuan per person with a bus IC card. After getting out of the subway, there is also a sign on the roadside saying "To the Badaling Great Wall, please take bus No. 919 at the north side of the arrow tower." However, the reporter found that despite these warnings, many tourists from other regions were still taken away by fake employees dressed in bus uniforms, and within half an hour, more than ten passengers were "fooled" onto "illegal buses".
Regarding the issue of "illegal buses" soliciting passengers at high prices, the reporter called the dispatching staff of bus No. 919. She said that the bus uniforms worn by these "illegal bus" solicitors might be borrowed or purchased online, "There will be subtle differences in the clothes, passengers may not notice them much." At the same time, she reminded the vast number of passengers from other regions that there are mainly two ways to identify real and fake buses, first look at the fare, if the fare is too high, do not take it, secondly, see if the bus can accept card swiping, if it cannot swipe cards, it is definitely not a regular bus.
Morning Post 96101 Hotline News Reporter Yao Jinbo Clue: Mr. Ma