The capital city has asked transportation companies to focus more on improving service quality instead of increasing frequency on inter-provincial routes, the Nhan Dan (The People) Newspaper reported on June 22.

As part of efforts to make inter-provincial travel from and to the city more comfortable and safe for passengers, it has asked the municipal Transport Department to review bus schedules at all major terminals in the capital city.

The Hanoi People's Committee has also directed all bus stations in the capital city not to increase the number of trips on fixed routes except during national holidays or the Tet festival, the report said.

It quoted Nguyen Quoc Hung, Vice Chairman of the city People's Committee, as saying that from now until 2020, bus terminals receiving high traffic volumes should also not increase the number of routes they service.

"Bus terminals need to invest financial resources in improving service quality," he said.

He also said that new fixed-bus routes will be launched from the Nuoc Ngam and Yen Nghia bus terminals that have the infrastructural capacity to handle more routes and trips.

There are 10 inter-provincial bus terminals in the capital city, with the six main ones being: Giap Bat, My Dinh, Gia Lam, Luong Yen, Nuoc Ngam and Yen Nghia.

Most of them are located at gateways to the city or on main roads that link the city via ring-roads to various provinces.

Bus terminals in the city serve 540 inter-provincial transport routes that link Hanoi with 42 provinces and cities in Vietnam.

A total of 404 passenger transport enterprises have registered with the municipal Transport Department to run on inter-provincial routes. These firms have been allowed to operate 4,591 buses. Firms in Hanoi account for 15 percent of the licensed enterprises, operating 1,263 buses. They serve 61 million turns of passengers every year, and have recorded an average growth of 8.25 percent per year over the last several years, the report said.

Among the 10 bus terminals, the My Dinh Terminal has the highest number of bus arrivals and departures, at 1,600 arrivals and Nuoc Ngam Terminal has the lowest at 220.

Transport Department Deputy Director Nguyen Hoang Linh said the difference between the two above terminals was based on city residents' demand for travel.

However, he also said that some bus terminals were not effectively connecting with public transport enterprises and failed to provide quality service. This discouraged passengers from taking buses at these terminals, he added.-VNA