VietNamNet Bridge – Bus fares in Hanoi will increase by nearly two times from October 1, announced the Hanoi Department of Transport.

The agency said the current fares are no longer appropriate and it made a big burden on Hanoi’s budget.

In addition, a survey by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JIC), showed that nearly 60 percent of interviewees who are bus passengers agreed with the increase of bus fares, accompanied with service quality improvement.

Accordingly, bus fare for single trips will rise from VND3,000 to VND5,000 for routes of less than 25km, from VND4,000 to VND6,000 for routes from 25km to 30km and VND5,000 to VND7,000 for routes of over 30km.

Monthly fares for students will rise from VND40,000-VND45,000 for single route and VND50,000 to VND90,000 for multi-routes. Monthly fares for other subjects will increase from VND50,000 to VND90,000 for single routes and VND80,000 to VND140,000 to multi-routes.

The Hanoi Department of Transport said that with the new fares, passengers who buy single tickets will have to pay 86 percent of the real cost while the city budget will have to cover 14 percent of the cost. Meanwhile, the budget will have to pay from 67 percent to 76 percent of the fares for passengers who buy monthly tickets.

The department also said that after bus fares remain unchanged since 2005 despite the 343 percent hike in petrol prices and 20 percent increase in vehicles maintenance cost. After this price adjustment, the city will reduce its bus services subsidy worth VND296 billion (US$14.2 million) each year.

Figures from the Department indicate the local budget has to set aside a large amount of money to subsidize public transport which steadily rises annually, from VND203 billion in 2006 to up to VND1.332 trillion last year.

$1 = VND21,000

Compiled by P. Lan