Imagine opening an app, drawing a line on a map from your street to the train station, and watching a real bus appear on that route within days. In Shanghai, that's not a thought experiment — it's public transport policy.

The city's "customised bus" system, known as dingzhi or DZ, lets residents propose new routes through an online platform. Once a route attracts a minimum of 15 to 20 passengers per trip, it gets approved and can launch almost immediately. No years-long consultations. No parliamentary committees. Just enough neighbours saying: "Yes, we'd ride that."

From rigid timetable to living network

The concept, highlighted by innovation foundation Nesta as one of its key "Future Signals" for 2026, represents a fundamental shift in how public services can work. Traditional bus networks are designed top-down — planners study population data, draw routes, and hope people use them. Shanghai flipped the model. The network grows from the ground up, shaped by the people who actually need to get somewhere.

"A fixed public service shifts to one shaped by real-time need," Nesta's report notes. The question it poses is provocative: "What if apparently rigid public infrastructure, from transport to streets, could quickly adapt to meet people's needs?"

It's not just buses — and it's not just China

The adaptive infrastructure trend stretches well beyond Shanghai's bus stops. In the German town of Bad Hersfeld, residents have been given control over their own street lighting. Want less glare outside your bedroom window? Dim it down via an app. Heading out for an evening stroll? Brighten the lamps along your route. An AI system resolves clashing requests and blocks unsafe adjustments. The scheme has already cut energy use.

In Sweden, the national museum ArkDes and design agency LundbergDesign have prototyped modular wooden street furniture — cycle racks, outdoor gyms, seating, planters — that can be reconfigured in hours, like civic Lego. Communities can test layouts before councils commit to costly groundworks.

The UK is watching

Britain's bus sector is in the midst of its own quiet revolution. The Bus Services Act 2025 gave local authorities in England new powers to shape services around community needs through franchising and partnerships. In the West of England, WestLink already operates a bus service with no fixed timetable — passengers book rides online or by phone, and vehicles go where they're needed.

"We're not just running buses; we're running hope," one transport executive told Passenger Transport magazine, reflecting a sector-wide shift toward purpose-driven service design.

Claire Miles, CEO of Stagecoach since 2023, has steered the company toward what she calls "responsible growth," emphasising sustainability and social impact alongside commercial performance. Martijn Gilbert, the new managing director of Arriva UK Bus, is driving an electric vehicle transition while pushing operational innovation.

The trajectory is clear: bus networks are becoming more responsive, more local, and more human.

Could it work here?

The Shanghai model relies on digital platforms and a willingness to treat bus routes as living, changeable things rather than carved-in-stone infrastructure. That's a cultural shift as much as a technical one. Britain's new legislation opens the door — but someone still needs to build the app and trust communities to use it well.

Not everyone will embrace the change. Many people value the predictability of traditional timetables. And digital-first systems risk excluding those who aren't comfortable with smartphones. Nesta acknowledges the tension: the 2025 Bus Services Act protects key routes from sudden cuts, which may limit full customisation.

But the direction of travel — if you'll pardon the pun — feels unmistakable. Public infrastructure is becoming more malleable, more responsive, and more shaped by the people who use it every day.

As Nesta puts it: "In time, we might all get buses when we need them rather than three at once."