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If one had to name one inconvenience in travelling within China, I'm sure one would be spoiled for choices.
如果让你说一种最不便捷交通工具，我想你的选择一定很多。
But today we'll be discussing an important development that addresses one of these issues: queuing up for hours to buy tickets for inter-city bus travel.
但我们今天谈及的是重大解决方案，人们再也不需要排几个小时购买长途车票了。
This has certainly been a problem in the larger cities especially during holiday seasons. But that may just change.
一赶上节假日，特别是大城市的道路交通就会出现问题。这一切都将发生改变。
In the eastern province of Zhejiang, Internet companies and local bus operators are partnering up to allow passengers to book inter-city bus tickets online.
在中国东部省份浙江省，互联网公司和当地公交运营商合作，乘客可以上网预定长途汽车票。
Zhejiang residents have quickly latched onto the new scheme, with online ticket sales accounting for 40-50 percent of total bus ticket sales in Hangzhou, according Hangzhou Long-Distance Transport Group.
据杭州长运运输集团公司表示，浙江市民立即了解了新购票方法，网上购票占到了汽车票购买的40-50%。
Zhejiang has raced ahead of other provinces to delve into e-ticketing for buses which has a significantly bigger market than train and plane travel put together.
在巴士车票e购买时代，浙江也走在了其它省份的前沿，而公交车市场超过了火车和飞机的总和。
For instance in 2014, travelers made 19 billion trips on inter-city buses, far higher than just 2.4 billion trips on the railway, or the 390 million trips by air.
比如2014年，长途车出行乘客为190亿人次，远超铁路的24亿或飞机的3.9亿人次。
But nationwide, it is still at a rudimentary stage, with online sales only accounting for one percent of total long-haul bus tickets sold in 2015.
但在全国范围内，网络购票还处于起步期，2015年长途车e购买只占总和的1%。
What's more the Ministry of Transport has issued a directive in June telling all local transport authorities to gather data on bus travel and integrate them together into one national e-ticket system by the end of 2016.
此外交通部于6月份下达指令，要求当地交通部门整理公交运输数据，并于2016年底之前整合入全国e购票系统。
So, with a huge potential for growth and government backing in hand, competition is intense and it involves a variety of players including bus operators, technology companies and Internet firms.
随着政府扶持力度加强，行业增长势头显著，竞争环境也异常激烈，包括公交运营商，技术公司以及互联网公司在内的多方参与进来。
For instance, the Zhejiang Long-Distance Transport Investment has partnered up with Alibaba's Hudsun Technology to launch a ticket booking website called keyun.96520.com. It offers tickets for buses at 50 stations across the province. And tickets are available on a number of different platforms, including Ctrip and Alitrip as well as the company's own mobile app, Bababus.
例如杭州长运运输集团公司与阿里巴巴旗下的恒生电子合作，推出了keyun.96520.com订票网站。提供全省50个客运站的订票服务。乘客还可以通过阿里旅游，携程以及长运自主推出的巴巴快巴平台预定。
Ctrip says it offers tickets for 2,000 bus stations. And Alitrip launched another bus ticket reservation service in September, which offers tickets for buses departing from 3,600 stations in 19 provinces.
携程称提供2000个客运站的订票服务。而阿里旅游也于去年9月推出了订票服务，包含了19个省份3600个客运站。
But, of course different players face different issues.
但各自有各自的问题。
For bus operators, selling tickets online creates extra costs such as the need to buy new ticket vending machines and the fee for every online transaction.
对于巴士运营商而言，e购票会产生额外费用，比如购买自主取票机，以及网上转账费用。
For regional ticket systems like 96520, there are couple of options yet to be taken that appear promising.
对于地区购票系统96520而言，它仍有几个可供发展的选择。
One is to cooperate with bigger Internet travel sites, which would attract more passengers. Another is to use the large volume of data from sales for commercial purposes.
一个是与大型在线旅行服务公司合作，吸引乘客。二是将销售数据用作商业。
For Internet travel service providers like Ctrip, the gains are quite simple. Although the service for booking buses does not generate profit itself, it helps generate more visits to their platforms where travelers could then also book hotels and other tour packages.
例如在线旅行服务公司携程，它们的收益方式十分简单。尽管e购票不产生收益，但却增加了访问量，旅客也可以预定酒店或其它套餐服务。
译文属可可英语原创，未经允许，不得转载。
