HCM CITY — HCM City will open an additional 17 high-quality bus routes beginning from July 1, increasing the total number of high-quality bus routes to 20.

The city’s Department of Transport earlier this week organised a seminar to review activities of three existing high-quality bus routes, including route No 3 between Bến Thành and Thạnh Lộc, No 18 between Bến Thành and Hiệp Thành Market, and No 33 between An Sương Bus Station and Việt Nam National University.

The city has received positive feedback from customers after five months of trial of the high-quality bus service, according to Trần Chí Trung, director of the public transport operation and management centre under the Transport Department.

More rides on each route had to be added after each month to satisfy passenger demand, and bus drivers and conductors were friendlier and committed fewer violations than they had done in the past.

However, since the eco-friendly compressed natural gas (CNG) stations are located too far from the city centre, buses running on route No 3 and 33 have to spend a lot of time refueling.

Pick-pocketing has been another challenge, according to Trung.

However, based on the positive results, the city has decided to expand the project and add another 17 high-quality bus routes from July 1.

The new bus routes will have even better service and more modern facilities, Trung said.

New bus stations with detailed information on bus routes are also part of the plan.

Speaking at a recent seminar held by Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper, the director of the city’s Transport Department, Bùi Xuân Cường, said the department was happy to receive feedback from locals on the development of public transport and management of private vehicles.

Other important matters were discussed, including upgrading bus quality and traffic infrastructure.

The city also needs to revise urban planning in the city centre as there are too many schools, hospitals and malls.

The Transport Department will continue to work on solutions, Cường said.

The city also plans to have a total of 200 bus routes, instead of 145, and will increase the number of buses to 5,000, many of them using eco-friendly energy sources, according to Cường.

From now to 2020, the traffic sector needs VNĐ1.2 trillion in funds for infrastructure upgrading and VNĐ8.2 trillion for bus subsidies. — VNS