VietNamNet Bridge – Nguyen Thi Anh Dao would often rush to her daughter’s school in peak-hour traffic to pick her up on time. This left her tired, stressed out and frustrated.

“It was better that I pick her up,” she said, adding that she left her job promptly at 5:30pm. But she was often caught in a traffic jam on the way.

Once, she was so late that her daughter and a school guard were the only two people left on the grounds.

“When Nhi saw me, she burst into tears,” Dao said.

Today, however, her daughter rides one of the 12 – or 16 – seat buses that pick up students to take them to their respective schools.

Dao said the cost for the service was reasonable, VND230,000 (US$11) per month.

Many students like the service, too, saying the bus is convenient and arrives on time.

Nguyen Minh Dung, who is in the 8th grade at Hoang Hoa Tham Secondary School in Tan Binh District, said he has used the service since he was in the sixth grade.

He likes it because he has more time to chat and make friends.

Although the city began offering the service eight years ago, it has only become more popular with families as traffic congestion has worsened in the city.

Expansion

Nguyen Thanh Tai, advisor on traffic safety to the municipal People’s Committee, said last month that the 12 – or 16-seat buses should be used more frequently.

When parents park their motorbikes in front of school gates, a traffic jam on the street can occur.

Many school principals have said that the use of the buses would reduce the need for students to ride bicycles to school.

Speaking last week on the Social Issues programme on VTV9, Nguyen Chi Manh, head of Transport Co-operative No.14, said the city did not have enough buses of this size to accommodate all students.

The city has about 400 12 – or 16-seat buses that are used for 175,000 of the 1.2 million students enrolled at city schools.

Manh said the city’s subsidy was too low. Moreover, at the end of October, the city cut 40 – 78 per cent of the subsidy for 12-seat buses. “This poured cold water on the development of this service,” he added.

Another problem is the low income of the bus drivers, who often suffer financial losses carrying out this service.

Each bus only runs a maximum of four trips per day, he said, adding that the volume of collected money could not make up for the operating costs.

On the Social Issues broadcast, Le Trung Tinh, head of the City Department of Transport’s Road Transport Management Office, said the department had submitted a proposal to the City People’ Committee to review the subsidy for this service many times. It had asked the Department of Education and Training to discover how many students need this service so that a proper subsidy could be given by the city.

Tinh said that parents should be encouraged to accept a higher fee for the bus service so the costs could be shared with transport companies and co-operatives.

His department plans to work with transport companies and co-operatives to redesign the bus routes so they can accommodate the highest number of users.

The quality of the bus services would also be improved, he said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News