The city Department of Transport closed two routes in August and have given approval to close two public bus routes starting from October 10. One of them is bus 37 operated by the Transport Co-operative 26 and bus 60 operated by the September 15 Transport Co-operative.

According to the authorities, the number of passengers was too low to recoup the operating costs.

The HCM City Urban Transport Management and Operation Centre was asked to monitor public buses to ensure that the subsidies and spending for the buses participating in the bus investment scheme are following the regulations.

Co-operatives that fail to operate their buses as promised must repay loans and interest.

In August, the 149 route that ran on September 23 Park-Tan Phu-An Suong Bus Station route and the 40 route from Mien Dong Bus Station to Nga Tu Ga Bus Station were shutdown also due to lack of passengers.

The Department of Transport concluded that the low subsidy rate made drivers ignore bus stops. It proposed to the city people’s committee to increase subsidies for bus cooperatives by VND330bn (USD14m) each year as they are facing a shortage of funds.

The subsidies for 2018 were set at VND1trn (USD42.9m), however, this has proved insufficient because transport companies and co-operatives have replaced 1,162 buses and fuel prices are also on the rise. They have faced many difficulties in negotiating with other transportation firms.

The subsidies for public buses in the past years have declined. The subsidy rate in HCM City is 40% while this rate in Hanoi was 55% during the 2014-2016 period.

Dtinews