An operating dynamic bus. [Photo provided to wuxi.gov.cn]

Hailing a bus online before leaving home has become popular among residents in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province.

The city recently launched a bus service called dynamic bus – in other words, the bus version of online ride hailing. The first dynamic buses are now available in the Wuxi Economic Development District and Huishan district.

Dynamic buses. [Photo provided to wuxi.gov.cn]

From 6:30 am to 9:30 pm, 11 dynamic buses drive in a 12-square-kilometer area in the respective districts and receive up to more than 200 orders per day. It just costs 3 yuan ($0.42) to hail a bus.

To date, over 7,000 people, including 2,500 regular paying subscribers, have signed up for dynamic buses. The average travel distance of each passenger is about 2.3 km, and the response time usually ranges from 3 to 5 minutes.

The Wuxi Citizen Center, where dynamic buses operate in the Wuxi Economic Development District. [Photo provided to wuxi.gov.cn]

How to hail a bus?

People need to download the Wuxi Smart Bus app and click the "dynamic bus" icon on the app's home page. They may then place an order by selecting the departure place and destination. Then, a verification code will be produced and passengers are required to show the code to the driver who will drive them to their destinations after verifying the code.