The National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC) called on transport firms to provide smooth transit for candidates and residents during the national high school examination held during the first four days of July.

Khuat Viet Hung, the committee's vice chairman, said that measures would be enacted to ensure traffic safety and ensure candidates and their family have a means of transport.

There will be a 15 per cent discount offered for their train fares and hundreds of free bus tickets will be given to volunteers who help candidates obtain accommodation, transportation and provide them information about the examination.

The committee and the Central Committee of HCM City Communist Youth Union, as of last Sunday, have a total of 38 voluntary teams working to ensure traffic safety, Hung said.

He said that bus networks improved in many cities and provinces but still fail to provide door-to-door transport service.

Inconvenience arising during transfers or finding testing centres could add hardship and pressure on candidates and their family members, especially for newcomers to big cities like Ha Noi and HCM City, Hung said.

The committee sought to harness smart transportation technology to maximize participation from other modes of transportation, including taxis. GrabTaxi, a smart-phone-enabled e-hailing app volunteered to support the programme, making it the programme's first private sector partner.

GrabTaxi's "Exam Buddies" programme will provide fare reduction codes for GrabTaxi users in Ha Noi, HCM City and Da Nang City, where 17 testing centres are located.

People can use the Grabtaxi discount after downloading the smartphone app and creating an user account.

Using the promo code, "DITHI", which means "take test", will give users a VND20,000 discount on up to 10 rides between midnight June 29 and 11.59 pm July 5.

The second code, "THIDO", means "passed test" and will give users a VND30,000 discount on up to 16 rides between midnight July 1 and 11.59 pm July 4.

General manager of GrabTaxi Vietnam, Nguyen Tuan Anh, once a student and volunteer at HCM City University of Science, said that he understood the anxiety candidates and their families feel when traveling for the exam.

"Among their worries is the fear of getting lost, traffic jams and overcharging," Tuan Anh said.

Vice Chairman Hung said that the application of information and technology, such as those employed by GrabTaxi, offered novel solutions for improving mass transportation.

People would no longer need to worry about overcharging because the price is fixed as soon as passengers entered their start and destination locations into the app, Hung said.

Volunteers will help candidates book taxis using the fare reduction code through the GrabTaxi application at pre-designated examination clusters.

This year will mark the first time the Ministry of Education and Training combines the university entrance exam and the high school exam into one.

The exam's results will determine if students can graduate from high school and if they qualify for admission to universities, colleges or vocational training schools.

Over one million candidates registered to sit for the exam at 38 testing centres in 23 cities and provinces nationwide.

VNS