By 2023 HCM City aims to invite bids from private businesses for operating all subsidised public bus routes. — Photo: laodong.vn

The city currently has 129 bus routes with 2,261 vehicles, with the remaining 37 being non-subsidised.

Vo Khanh Hung, deputy director of the Department of Transport, said all bus co-operatives in the city are facing losses because business is unstable and the subsidies are not enough to cover expenses.

Passenger numbers fell from 302 million in 2012 to 255 million in 2019, and plummeted to 148 million last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The department is considering incentives to improve the quality of bus services.

At the beginning of this month a company won a bid to operate routes 1, 15, 65, and 152, and can deploy 42 buses.

According to Le Hoang, deputy director of the Public Transport Management and Operation Centre, the winning bidder can operate the routes for five years.

The tender process is aimed at reducing the subsidies and improving the quality of service to attract more passengers, according to the centre.

Hung said the city is now in the process of inviting bids for route Nos 4 and 43.

The city targets doing this for all subsidised routes by 2023.

It has shelled out around VND1 trillion (US$43 million) a year on subsidies since 2012, but the amount has been insufficient.

Since late 2018 it has repeatedly suspended the operation of buses on various routes because of lack of passengers.  

VNS

Ho Chi Minh City to have new BRT bus route

The bus rapid transit (BRT) route No. 1 that runs along Vo Van Kiet - Mai Chi Tho Boulevard is expected to be opened to the public in late 2022. The investment in this bus route is about $3 million per 1km.

HCM City to open public bidding for bus routes

The HCM City Department of Transport plans to open public bidding for 45 bus routes by the end of this year and early next year.