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HCM City plans to upgrade bus fleet
2011-0211
Transportation authorities in HCM City plan to reduce the number of large buses and introduce smaller ones so that they can navigate crowded streets more easily.
The city will invest in 1,680 new buses over the next five years, under a plan approved by the municipal People's Committee on Tuesday.
The plan will have the city buy 700 new 40-seat busses and 409 new 55-seat busses in the 2013-15 period, reducing the number of 80-seat buses to 571.
While all new buses will be airconditioned, have separate entrance and exit doors and low floors, some will have smart-card ticketing facilities. Some of the buses will be double-deckers.
The buses will also meet the European 3 emission standard levels and above; or run on compressed natural gas (CNG).
City buses will be repainted to make them look more beautiful, and will also provide easier access to people with disabilities, officials said.
Under the plan, bus operators who buy new buses will have to pay 20-30 per cent of bus price in advance and the remaining amount will be provided in soft loans with a term of seven years.
Bus buyers will have a portion of their interest on loans subsidised by the city's budget to the tune of VND301.7 billion (US$15.9 million).
This year, the department will increase the number of bus terminals offering access to disabled people to 20 from the current four.
The department will also expand the use of smart-card ticketing services to 20-30 bus routes, helping students and workers in particular.
Nguyen Thanh Tai, deputy chairman of the municipal People's Committee, who signed the plan approval, has asked the department to work out ways so that the plan can be implemented in three instead of five years. He said the plan should be speeded up because the city's transportation needs were urgent.
Le Trung Tinh, head of the department's Industrial Transport Management Division, said 1,318 of the city's oldest buses were in bad condition and needed to be retired.
In addition, 400 buses that transport students and workers were also degraded, Tinh said.
The city has about 3,200 busses, meeting only 5-6 per cent of public transportation demand, according to the department.
The city will invest in 1,680 new buses over the next five years, under a plan approved by the municipal People's Committee on Tuesday.
The plan will have the city buy 700 new 40-seat busses and 409 new 55-seat busses in the 2013-15 period, reducing the number of 80-seat buses to 571.
While all new buses will be airconditioned, have separate entrance and exit doors and low floors, some will have smart-card ticketing facilities. Some of the buses will be double-deckers.
The buses will also meet the European 3 emission standard levels and above; or run on compressed natural gas (CNG).
City buses will be repainted to make them look more beautiful, and will also provide easier access to people with disabilities, officials said.
Under the plan, bus operators who buy new buses will have to pay 20-30 per cent of bus price in advance and the remaining amount will be provided in soft loans with a term of seven years.
Bus buyers will have a portion of their interest on loans subsidised by the city's budget to the tune of VND301.7 billion (US$15.9 million).
This year, the department will increase the number of bus terminals offering access to disabled people to 20 from the current four.
The department will also expand the use of smart-card ticketing services to 20-30 bus routes, helping students and workers in particular.
Nguyen Thanh Tai, deputy chairman of the municipal People's Committee, who signed the plan approval, has asked the department to work out ways so that the plan can be implemented in three instead of five years. He said the plan should be speeded up because the city's transportation needs were urgent.
Le Trung Tinh, head of the department's Industrial Transport Management Division, said 1,318 of the city's oldest buses were in bad condition and needed to be retired.
In addition, 400 buses that transport students and workers were also degraded, Tinh said.
The city has about 3,200 busses, meeting only 5-6 per cent of public transportation demand, according to the department.
Source: VNS
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