The Management and Operation Center for Public Transport of HCMC will test set up bus-only lanes on Dien Bien Phu and Vo Thi Sau streets in April, said Tran Chi Trung, the center’s director.

A commuter bus is seen on Pham Van Dong Street in HCMC. There will be bus-only lanes on Dien Bien Phu and Vo Thi Sau streets in HCMC in April 

The center, which is under the HCMC Department of Transport, said the bus lane on Dien Bien Phu Street will start at Ly Thai To Street and end at the Saigon Bridge, while the bus lane on Vo Thi Sau Street will begin at Dinh Tien Hoang Street and end at Dan Chu roundabout.

These lanes are aimed at ensuring punctual bus operations and thus attracting more commuters to travel by bus.

If the pilot scheme is successful, it would be expanded to some other streets such as Truong Chinh, Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Nguyen Van Troi, Hanoi Highway and Pham Van Dong.

Pham Sanh, an urban transport expert, has thrown support behind the city’s plan to set up bus-only lanes on wide roads such as Vo Van Kiet, Pham Van Dong, Dien Bien Phu and Hanoi Highway.

However, there should not be bus lanes on narrow inner-city roads. When private vehicle traffic is reduced, the city center should have bus lanes, Sanh added.

In the last three years, the number of bus commuters in HCMC has fallen sharply as bus services are poor, bus drivers and driver assistants are unhelpful and buses are unpunctual.

SGT