LookAtVietnam – The Ha Noi Department of Transport together with the city police are preparing for a campaign to crack down on bus drivers violating regulations.

A campaign will be launched by the Ha Noi Department of Transport from September 20 to October 30 to crack down on bus driver violations in the city.

“After the inspection period, the department will conduct further inspections of bus companies, which had the highest number of drivers with violations,” Hai said.

Inspections will focus on all of the companies’ work, including management, traffic regulation execution and vehicle quality.

“Punishment for violations will be based on Decree 146, which regulates administrative punishments for traffic violations,” Hai said.

Depending on the level of violation, violators will receive a strong warning, have their driver’s license revoked for up to 90 days or be fined up to VND20 million (US$1,100).

Bus inspectors will also be supplied with four machines to measure the level of exhaust fumes from buses. Companies will be fined for exhaust fume violations.

Leaders of a number of transport companies disagreed with the decision to measure exhaust levels.

The price for a bus which releases only a small amount of exhaust is quite expensive, about VND2 billion (US$111,100), said deputy director of the Ha Noi Transport Corporation Nguyen Trong Thong.

“We need financial support from the city authorities to buy such buses,” Thong said.

Nguyen Huu Hong, director of the Ha Noi Bus Company also said that some buses in his companies were rather old and released a lot of fumes, but the money earned from selling tickets was not enough to upgrade the old buses.

The inspectors will also fine people who encroach upon bus stops for their private work.

The city now has an estimated 50 bus stations being encroached upon for private purposes, including opening tea shops or turning them into motorbike taxi stations, according to surveys of the Ha Noi Public Transport Management and Operation Centre.

Ha Noi has 73 bus routes with nearly 1,000 buses, which transport more than 400 million passengers a year.

Meanwhile, the city’s Road and Railway Traffic Police said that they fined 317 coaches for picking up passengers in inappropriate places in the first week of this month.

The police also fined 8,722 people for violating traffic regulations, a decrease of 14 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Most of the violators were not wearing helmets, transporting bulky goods and driving in the wrong lanes.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News