Hanoi to expand bus network in rural areas

Hanoi (VNA) – Several new bus routes connecting downtown Hanoi with suburban districts will be put into operation between now and 2020, according to Nguyen Phi Thuong, head of the Hanoi Transportation Service JSC (Transerco).

The capital bus network will be extended to a large number of localities including Ba Vi, Quoc Oai, My Duc and Thach That and will help boost social-economic development in these rural areas, while reducing traffic jams in central Hanoi, Thuong said.

Many places in the suburbs, where rapid urbanisation is occurring in line with demand for public transport, still lack access to buses, he added.

A similar situation is also taking place in new urban areas, thus, new bus routes are set to cover Linh Dam, Van Phu, Cau Giay, Me Tri and My Dinh, among other locations in the next two years.

Meanwhile, Transerco will overhaul service quality, with some 2,000 bus stations upgraded.

In the past five years, the number of passengers using Transerco buses grew quickly, helping the company occupy around 88 percent of the capital’s public-transport market.

Room for bus service expansion in Hanoi remains extensive, as it currently caters to only 15 percent of local demand, which could increase to 50 percent in the future.-VNA