Passengers ride a river bus in HCM City (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) - After more than a month ofimplementation, Saigon river buses carry just some 1,000 passengers a day, toolittle to be considered an alternative to reduce traffic congestion as wasexpected.
The river bus route covers 10.8 km from Bach Dang Wharf inDistrict 1 to Linh Dong Station in Thu Duc district, passing through District 2and Binh Thanh district.
Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper reported that passengers weremostly older people who wanted to see HCM City from a different perspective.
“It is exciting to enjoy the trip, feeling the breeze on the riverwhile staying away from the traffic congestion,” said Nguyen Thi Lan, 65, fromDistrict 8.
Each river bus offers 75 seats; therefore, some people findit hard to get a ticket.
The whole trip takes about 45 minutes, including waiting timeat three bus stops. However, as passengers need to wait more than two hours forthe return river bus to depart, a lot of them opt for normal buses, taxis ormotorcycle taxis.
Meanwhile, with the same route, bus No.19 takes just 25minutes despite ten bus stops on the way.
In terms of pricing, travelling by river bus costs 900,000VND (39.6 USD) per month, in comparison to 112,500 to 135,000 VND (5 – 6 USD)for 30 normal bus rides.
“Riding normal buses is cheaper and faster. I think riverbuses are only suitable for sightseeing, not going to work,” said Tran Van Binhfrom Thu Duc district.
According to a report issuedby Daily Ldt. Company, the project’s investor, three river buses (including thebackup one) serve about 1,000 passengers a day, which is a drop in the oceancompared to the 7.5 million motorbikes and 650,000 cars in the city.
Therefore, it is essential for the investor to evaluate theservice’s impact to better arrange the timetable, number of tickets andavailability of river buses.
Nguyen Van My, Director of Lua Viet Travel Agency, said thatthe river bus could not be considered a form of public transportation as it haspoor traffic connections with other bus routes.
Conversely, river bus trips are not attractive to tourists asthere are no tourism spots around the stations.
“To improve the service, besides the effort of investors,local authorities need to develop tourism along the river to improve theexperience for passengers,” he said.
According to Phan Cong Bang, head of the Water TransportationAdministration under HCM City Department of Transport, the department isassessing the project’s impact and passengers’ demands. Meanwhile, consideringthe investor’s financial capability, it is impossible to increase the number ofriver buses at the moment, he said.-VNA
The river bus route covers 10.8 km from Bach Dang Wharf inDistrict 1 to Linh Dong Station in Thu Duc district, passing through District 2and Binh Thanh district.
Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper reported that passengers weremostly older people who wanted to see HCM City from a different perspective.
“It is exciting to enjoy the trip, feeling the breeze on the riverwhile staying away from the traffic congestion,” said Nguyen Thi Lan, 65, fromDistrict 8.
Each river bus offers 75 seats; therefore, some people findit hard to get a ticket.
The whole trip takes about 45 minutes, including waiting timeat three bus stops. However, as passengers need to wait more than two hours forthe return river bus to depart, a lot of them opt for normal buses, taxis ormotorcycle taxis.
Meanwhile, with the same route, bus No.19 takes just 25minutes despite ten bus stops on the way.
In terms of pricing, travelling by river bus costs 900,000VND (39.6 USD) per month, in comparison to 112,500 to 135,000 VND (5 – 6 USD)for 30 normal bus rides.
“Riding normal buses is cheaper and faster. I think riverbuses are only suitable for sightseeing, not going to work,” said Tran Van Binhfrom Thu Duc district.
According to a report issuedby Daily Ldt. Company, the project’s investor, three river buses (including thebackup one) serve about 1,000 passengers a day, which is a drop in the oceancompared to the 7.5 million motorbikes and 650,000 cars in the city.
Therefore, it is essential for the investor to evaluate theservice’s impact to better arrange the timetable, number of tickets andavailability of river buses.
Nguyen Van My, Director of Lua Viet Travel Agency, said thatthe river bus could not be considered a form of public transportation as it haspoor traffic connections with other bus routes.
Conversely, river bus trips are not attractive to tourists asthere are no tourism spots around the stations.
“To improve the service, besides the effort of investors,local authorities need to develop tourism along the river to improve theexperience for passengers,” he said.
According to Phan Cong Bang, head of the Water TransportationAdministration under HCM City Department of Transport, the department isassessing the project’s impact and passengers’ demands. Meanwhile, consideringthe investor’s financial capability, it is impossible to increase the number ofriver buses at the moment, he said.-VNA
VNA
