VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City expects to spend VND1.23 trillion (US$54.38 million) to subsidise buses next year, up VND231 billion ($10.24 million) against 2016, the Transport Department said on Tuesday (Nov 8).

HCM City expects to spend VND 1.23 trillion (US$54.38 million) to subsidise buses next year, up VND 231 billion ($10.24 million) against this year. – Photo: VNA/VNS

The department attributed the subsidy increase to investment needed to replace old buses and the projected increase of bus passengers to nearly 295 million in 2017.

The city has a total of 142 bus routes, including 107 subsidised bus routes and 35 others.

In addition, 45 subsidised bus routes transport workers under contracts. Up to 115 schools are also using subsidised bus services for their students.

The city’s budget for subsidised buses has been increasing in the last two years.

However, experts have said the city should consider bus subsidies because the number of bus passengers has continued to decline since 2013.

The number of subsidised bus passengers was 182.3 million in the first 10 months of the year, down 11.4 per cent against the same period last year, according to the HCM City Center for Management and Executive Public Passenger Transport.

The figure has reached 61.8 percent of the city’s plan to transport 295 million subsidised bus passengers this year.

VNS