A fleet of double-decker buses is put into use in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: huzhoufabu]

Huzhou was ranked first in a provincial assessment for its efforts to ease urban traffic congestion in 2021, local authorities announced.

The city will be awarded 10 million yuan ($1.54 million) by the provincial government for this achievement.

The improved transportation infrastructure and increased availability of public transportation services have played a big part in the alleviation of traffic jams in Huzhou.

The city was recently honored as a national demonstration city for bus services. A survey shows that the public satisfaction rate for local bus services has surged to 92.4 percent.

Huzhou has become the first city with an urban-rural integrated bus service system in Zhejiang.

All buses operating in the city are now completely powered by electricity and offer mobile payment systems.

In addition, the city has launched a fixed-fare system, meaning the fare is no longer decided by distance, and this has significantly slashed public transportation costs for the public.

The local government has been actively leveraging digital technology in public transportation. In 2021, some 143 electronic screens were installed at bus stops to provide bus arrival and departure information to passengers.

Huzhou has also ramped up transportation infrastructure construction and strengthened traffic management.

About 28 kilometers of roads and more than 5,300 parking lots were constructed across Huzhou last year. 

Throughout the year, the city handled roughly 1.39 million cases related to traffic infringements, including drunk driving and illegal use of bus lanes.

The number of illegal stop-and-go cases captured by digital cameras in Huzhou decreased by 9.9 percent compared with the same period in 2020, according to official data.

The local government plans to invest 150 billion yuan in transportation during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, with the aim of comprehensively improving its connectivity with surrounding cities like Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou.