According to the HCM City Department of Transport, since 2014, the city has witnessed an annual decrease in bus passengers. Bus passenger numbers fell 6.65 percent on-year in the 2014-2018 period.
A bus stop in HCM City
In 2019, buses in HCM City served 255 million passengers, down 12.1 percent on-year. The figure was 148 million passengers in 2020.
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak in 2021, the city’s bus service attracted only 53 million passengers. However, despite the Covid-19 pandemic being contained, the city has continued to see a bus passenger decline in the first half of this year.
A local bus driver said that congestion was among the major reasons for the decline.
Tran Thi Hang from District 8 said that many buses were too old. Meanwhile, lots of streets in HCM City experience traffic jams, seriously affecting services so she didn’t want to take the bus.
Le Do Muoi, head of HCM City Institute for Strategy and Development, said that to improve bus services, HCM City needs to reorganise roads for buses to ensure their frequency and punctuality through technology.
Tran Nguyen Thai, director of the southern branch of Bao Yen Transport of Goods and Passenger Services Company Limited, said his firm had 110 buses for six routes in HCM City. But, at present, only around 60 percent of the buses were being used.
Le Trung Tinh, Chairman of the HCM City Passenger Transport Association, said HCM City is home to 90 subsidised-bus routes which cost VND1 trillion from (USD43.11 million) from the state budget per year.
Tinh suggested that the city should open more short bus routes and shorten the time between two trips to 5-7 minutes from 15 minutes at present. It was important to help passengers choose better routes through technology.
The city needs to consider arranging prioritised roads for buses and use more CNG buses and electric buses.
