Customers disembark from a Sai Gon-Thu Duc express bus in HCM City. Transport demand is forecast to rise by five to 10 per cent during the Tet holiday.

All major bus stations in Ha Noi and HCM City are adding more buses during the Tet holiday.

Transport demand is forecast to rise by five to 10 per cent compared to the last Tet holiday.

The Eastern Bus Station in HCM City has added 99 bus ticket counters and began selling tickets for Tet this week.

The number of tickets per passengers will not be limited.

The station will sell tickets to groups from industrial parks and universities, and offer a home-delivery service for groups’ pre-booked tickets.

The director of the Western Bus Station, Nguyen Ngoc Thua, suggested that a steering board be set up to monitor tickets for Tet holiday because of the anticipated demand and traffic congestion.

In Ha Noi, the Ha Noi Bus Station Management Company said stations would use an additional 400 buses to serve extra passengers during the holiday.

The Giap Bat Bus Station will run a total of 3,200 buses per day, an increase of 115-200 buses per day over the 10 days before and after Tet (February 4-25).

On peak days, the number of passengers will rise two times compared to normal periods, to around 36,000 passengers daily.

The My Dinh Bus Station will also add buses, increasing to 980 buses to serve around 30,000 passengers a day, a two-fold increase compared to normal periods.

Subsidies sought

Bus companies in HCM City have called for more subsidies from the city as oil prices have been rising since last month.

Within one month, the price of diesel oil 0.05S increased to VND14,600 (US$7.5) from VND13,300 ($7).

Many bus companies are spending an additional VND130,000 per bus for about a month because of the increase in the oil, according to HCM City Transport Cooperative Union.

While taxi companies in the city can adjust the prices according to changes in petrol prices, bus companies cannot because they are subsidised by the city government.

The bus companies’ ticket prices must be approved by the city government.

The city authority adjusts the subsidy for bus services based on changes in oil prices and other factors reported by the Departments of Finance and Transport.

So far, many bus companies have yet to receive any additional subsidy, even though the oil price were raised two times within one month.

Phung Dang Hai, general director of the HCM City Transport Cooperative Union, said the lateness in receiving the expected subsidy was causing difficulties for bus companies, which are required by the city to operate the buses every day.

In an aim to encourage the use of public transport, the city authority has rejected a proposal by the Finance and Transport departments to increase bus fares from VND3,000 to VND4,000.

Nearly 800 buses belonging to six bus cooperatives are providing services in the city, according to HCM City’s Transport Cooperative Union.

VietNamNet/Vietnam News