Residents of Hangzhou can now make reservations to take a bus to town. [Photo/ zj.zjol.com.cn]

Residents in Hangzhou, the capital of East China's Zhejiang province, are now able to make reservations to take a bus after the city recently launched five such piloted bus service reservation routes.

The bus reservation services were provided by the Hangzhou Traffic Police authorities, Hangzhou Public Transportation Group and Didi Chuxing Technology Co.

The service was first provided in the city's Sandunbei and Zhuangtang towns, and then will be rolled out to other parts of the city once the piloted efforts prove successful.

One female passenger praised the new service, saying that normally she had to wait an extra 10 minutes for the next bus if she missed her ride.

"But with the new services, I can make a reservation on the phone and arrive at the station slightly earlier than the appointed time and the bus will come as expected," she said.

Unlike other buses which travel on a fixed route, these buses come equipped with digital tracking for its reservation services, so they can choose the optimal route to pick up their passengers.

Local officials said the ticket fare is only 2 yuan (28 cents) each.

To access the service, residents can search for the Didi Dynamic Bus (滴滴动态公交) mini-app on WeChat, which will position users and then select the bus route and make a reservation for the time and waiting station of the customer.