The Big Picture

Despite early promise, China's on-demand bus services hit potholes on the road to profit

  • China
  • 7 min read
  • Oct 08, 2019
  • By Li Yuan

Image: Shutterstock

High costs – not a lack of customers – have forced promising on-demand bus service startups like DuduBus to shift their focus to corporate shuttle services 

In 2015, Liu Yixun resigned from Tencent, one of the most sought-after employers in China, and founded DuduBus with a group of friends to provide on-demand bus services. They believed the business had significant growth potential. “At that time, Didi Chuxing and Uber had already begun to offer car-hailing services in China. We thought bus-hailing must be the next hit, as there was no dominant player in this sector,” Liu said.
The entrepreneurs also gained their confidence from the urgent needs of bus commuters. During peak hours, buses in China get extremely crowded, especially...

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