HCMC considers small-bus system for downtown

As part of their efforts to limit personal vehicle use, the Ho Chi Minh City Transport Department and the District 1 People’s Committee have drawn up a plan to use small-sized buses for passenger transport in the city downtown.

The plan has been submitted to the city People Committee for approval, said Tran Vinh Tuyen, chairman of the district People’s Committee.

If approved, the plan will be implemented later this month, Tuyen said.

According to the plan, a fleet of 5 to 10 buses, about 25 seats each, will be used to transport passengers. The bus service will be run at a 5-7 minute interval between each trip.
The bus fare is set at VND2,000 (nearly US$0.1) per person.

These buses will have stops at State agencies, universities, trade centers and some other public places in the city’s central areas.

The small-bus system will help reduce the use of personal vehicles and ease the congestion in the downtown, especially during rush hours, Tuyen said.
The district authorities will call on its civil servants to use the system at least two times a week.

The city had about 5.6 million personal vehicles, including 5 million motorbikes, by the end of January 2012 and the annual growth of those vehicles in 2011 was 13 percent, or 637,000 vehicles, according to the city Road Traffic Infrastructure Exploitation Department.

Such an increase has worsened the overload of the city’s traffic system and caused more traffic jams, especially during the rush hour, the department said.