Lishan Happiness Bus Wins Urban Governance Excellence Award! Feng Chia University Team's Outstanding Contribution

The Taichung City Government's "Last Mile of Local Operation - Lishan Route 1" project has won the "CommonWealth Urban Governance Excellence Award," becoming the only awarded unit among the six metropolitan transportation bureaus. The success of this project not only solved the long-standing transportation difficulties in the Lishan area but also highlighted the years of silent dedication and contribution of the Feng Chia University team behind it.

Lishan is a remote area with inconvenient transportation. After the 921 earthquake, residents' basic needs for commuting, schooling, and medical care became even more challenging. To address this issue, the Innovation Center for Intelligent Transportation and Logistics at Feng Chia University, through the University Social Responsibility (USR) approach, collaborated with bus operators to actively assist the Taichung City Government in promoting the Lishan Happiness Bus project.

The "Last Mile of Local Operation - Lishan Route 1" project won the CommonWealth Urban Governance Excellence Award.

From the early stages of the project, Jau-Ming Su, Dean of the College of Construction and Development, and Liang-Tay Lin, Director of the Innovation Center for Intelligent Transportation and Logistics, actively participated, providing professional guidance and cross-departmental coordination, making the project more ideologically directed and operationally feasible. The planning and execution of the project were led by Jau-Ming Su and Chia-Chen Wu, Assistant Professor of the Department of Transportation and Logistics, along with their research team. They conducted field surveys and interviewed residents to understand the real transportation needs of the Lishan area.

The Feng Chia University team worked tirelessly, leading the team to overcome numerous challenges, including:

• Assisting social groups and locals in establishing urban bus operations: Due to the vast and sparsely populated Lishan area, traditional bus operators were reluctant to operate. The team helped local residents establish a bus company, creating a sustainable model of "locals serving locals."
• Assisting the Lishan Community Development Association in operating the Happiness Bus service: They helped the community development association plan routes, formulate operational strategies, and train local residents as drivers, integrating the Happiness Bus into local life.
• Planning a matching platform to improve operational efficiency: The team developed a reservation platform to facilitate passenger reservations and allow drivers to manage schedules and routes, effectively improving operational efficiency.
• Expanding service scope to cross-county services: In addition to the Lishan area, the service scope was extended to Cuihua Village in Nantou County, achieving basic public transportation services across counties and living circles.

Furthermore, the Feng Chia University team also assisted in exploring diverse service models such as passenger and cargo co-loading and developing tourism operations, and established transparent fare rates, ensuring that the Lishan Happiness Bus not only meets residents' basic needs but also promotes local industrial development.

Feng Chia University collaborates with the Taichung City Government and bus operators to create a new model of industry-government-academia cooperation.

Chia-Chen Wu stated that the journey was full of challenges, including long distances and frequent natural disasters. Team members often had to personally travel to Lishan, overcoming weather and road conditions. Importantly, communicating with local residents and gaining their support to participate and implement the project was a key focus of the team's efforts.

The Lishan Happiness Bus project won the CommonWealth Urban Governance Excellence Award, with Chia-Chen Wu, Assistant Professor of the Department of Transportation and Logistics at Feng Chia University, representing the team to receive the award in Taipei.

Now, the recognition of the Lishan Happiness Bus project with the CommonWealth Urban Governance Excellence Award is not only an encouragement to the Taichung City Government but also the best reward for the years of effort by the Feng Chia University team. This also proves that academic research can contribute not only to the academic field but also solve social problems through practical actions, creating real social value.

The Innovation Center for Intelligent Transportation and Logistics at Feng Chia University will continue to invest in research on transportation in rural areas, using the successful experience of the Lishan Happiness Bus as a foundation to help more regions improve transportation difficulties, spreading "happiness" through convenient transportation to every corner of Taiwan.