Hanoi to add more bus routes in suburbs

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Hanoi plans to add dozens of new bus routes over the next four years to encourage more people to use public transport.

The new routes will service the outskirts of the city as well as areas that are usually crowded, like residential areas, shopping malls and entertainment complexes.

It is expected that between 90 and 100 new bus routes will be introduced in the 2020-2025 period.

The move is part of the efforts from the capital city to raise the ratio of passengers using the public bus system to 16-18 percent by 2025 and 25 percent by 2030.

Currently, the bus system only meets 15 percent of the travel demand of Hanoi residents.

Inadequate traffic infrastructure, a low rate of punctuality and limited accessibility have stopped buses from attracting more passengers.

Nguyen Thanh Nam, director-general of the Hanoi Transportation Service Corporation (Transerco) which is in charge of operating about 70 percent of the city’s subsidised bus routes, said the corporation has launched new bus routes to increase connections within the city and the outlying areas since 2016.

However, a lack of small buses which can access narrow streets is a challenge for the public bus system.

Nam cited Phu Xuyen district as an example.

There are eight routes with 636 bus trips per day which directly connect 17 out of 27 communes in the district. Narrow roads are the main reason why people in 10 communes can't access the bus system.

Transerco is studying and will devise plans on new routes to help people travel more easily and conveniently, he said.

Nam said the corporation had replaced 512 old buses with new and modern vehicles in the past three years.

In the first quarter of this year, Transerco put seven bus routes into operation which connect urban areas and densely populated areas with the suburban districts of Thach That, Ba Vi, Hoai Duc and Ung Hoa.

Buses are now available in all 30 districts in the city, 516 out of 579 communes, wards and towns, 65 out of 75 hospitals, and 192 out of 286 universities or colleges and high schools.

Buses also reach 32 major industrial zones in the city and 32 out of 37 urban areas./.