HCM City will try separate lanes for public buses on Võ Thị Sáu and Điện Biên Phủ streets in District 3. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The HCM City Department of Transport plans to have a dedicated lane for public buses on Võ Thị Sáu and Điện Biên Phủ streets in District 3, which are highly congested during rush hour.

On Điện Biên Phủ Street, the bus lane will start from the Lý Thái Tổ Roundabout in District 10 and go on up to the Sài Gòn Bridge in Bình Thạnh District.

On Võ Thị Sáu Street, it will begin at the Dân Chủ Roundabout in District 3 and end at Đinh Tiên Hoàng Street in District 1.

The lanes, to be on the extreme right of the road, will be 3.25 metres wide and separated from the other lanes by barriers.

Only buses – and certain other vehicles like police and military vehicles, fire trucks and ambulances -- can use these lanes from 6.30am to 8.30am and from 4.30pm to 6.30pm on weekdays.

At all other times, including weekends, the lanes will also be open to other vehicles.

The centre is consulting experts from the city’s Port and Bridge Association for a report to submit to competent authorities for permission to start.  

If approved by the city People's Committee, the bus lanes will come into use by the end of this year.

Trần Trí Trung, director of the city Management and Control Centre for Public Passenger Transportation, said the Urban Transportation Council has agreed with the idea that the city needs separate lanes for buses to prevent congestion during rush hour.

It has directed the centre to use computer-based analytics to determine the feasibility of the project.

If the model proves successful, it will be expanded to other streets.

Trung said one of the reasons for the fall in the number of people using public buses is the lack of separate lanes for them, which slows them down.

Having dedicated lanes would make buses faster, encouraging more people to use them, he said.

The demand for buses on Võ Thị Sáu and Điện Biên Phủ streets is high, Trung  told Thanh Niên (Young People) newspaper when asked why the two streets were chosen for the trial run. — VNS