HCM CITY — The HCM City authority will crack down on traffic violations during the upcoming Tết (Lunar New Year) festival, particularly unregistered passenger coaches.

The municipal Department of Transport will mobilise all forces especially during peak hours to monitor the streets on the occasion.

The chief inspector of the department, Trần Quốc Khánh, told Pháp luật Thành phố HCM (HCM City Law) newspaper that transport inspectors would be mobilised around the clock in the 11 days before, during and after Tết to ensure a safe holiday for the people.

At bus stations, inspectors will focus on overloaded coaches and illegal coaches, particularly at hot spots around bus stations and along key national highways such as 13, 22 and 1, he said.

Overloaded coaches or coaches picking up passengers at incorrect locations will be issued strict penalties to ensure safe traffic flow during the holiday, according to Khánh.

Inspections will also focus on vehicles and projects that fail to meet transport safety standards, particularly key transport projects such as the construction of the Bến Thành-Suối Tiên metro line and projects to upgrade and expand the roads and water drainage systems in the city.

Searches for illegal means of transport will also be stepped up at airports and railway stations.

Further, inspectors will work with the relevant agencies to monitor transport to ensure traffic safety and prevent congestion during the holiday. Authorities must also prevent unreasonable increases in fares that take advantage of people who are returning home.

For many years, illegal buses have been a serious problem for the city’s transport industry because they cause a loss of revenue as they are cheaper than public buses.

Unauthorised coaches are not regulated well and are seen as less safe than passenger buses that are authorised to operate by the city authorities.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the city has more than 2,000 authorised coaches with fixed routes, 2,797 buses and 10,790 taxis. More than 12,465 coaches are used for tourist transport.

In HCM City, more than 30 illegal coach stations and hundreds of coaches depart from the city to various provinces, transporting more than 10,000 passengers each day. — VNS