VietNamNet Bridge – A police blitz on coaches illegally picking up and dropping off passengers is said to have failed, despite fines being issued to about 300 drivers.



Traffic police check the documents of a coach driver who drives illegally
by picking up and dropping off passengers outside of designated areas.


The crackdown, which started on October 4 and is scheduled to run until the end of the year, is being conducted by Ha Noi's Hoang Mai District Police.

Three new transit terminals for Ha Noi

Ha Noi People's Committee has approved a plan by the municipal Department of Planning and Architecture to build three new provincial bus terminals.

Work is expected to begin later this month. The stations will include Duyen Thai Station in Thuong Tin District, Phung Station in Dan Phuong District and Co Bi Station in Gia Lam District.

The municipal committee has assigned Ha Noi Transport and Services Corporation to complete the work.

Deputy chief inspector of the city's Department of Transport Hoang Van Manh said that many coaches terminating at Giap Bat and Nuoc Ngam terminals often picked up and dropped off passengers in surrounding areas, including Giai Phong, Kim Dong and Phap Van streets.

Police reports show that coach drivers often drive slowly after leaving the terminuses to pick up passengers. The drivers are said to only run at normal speed when they see police.

Some drivers take advantage of the gaps between police working shifts to overload their vehicles with passengers and goods.

Commander Nguyen Hong Thai, head of the Transport Police Team No 4, which manages the area from the Southern Terminal in Hoang Mai to the Nuoc Ngam Terminal in the same suburb, said he assigned six to eight police to keep a check on the buses.

However, he said their jobs were made difficult because speed guns were not allowed to be used in the inner city.

Manh threatened that if drivers repeated their violations, the police would report the cases to bus companies and the Department of Transport, who would issue more severe punishments.

This would include suspending drivers who violated the rules.

He said the transport department now planned to set up speed signs along Giai Phong and Kim Dong streets. Police would also be allowed to use speed guns if the buses were running slower than 20km/h.

So far nearly 300 coaches have been fined for picking up passengers at wrong places.

VietNamNet/VNS