Passengers at a bus stop in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Danh Lam

HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội's Department of Transport recently proposed to the capital People’s Committee to build 270 new bus shelters and upgrade 330 old shelters in the city using the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

The bus shelters, which will be built and upgraded following European standards in all 12 districts of the city, would be worth nearly VNĐ1 trillion (US$42.9 million).

Some selected shelters will have Wi-Fi routers installed to provide free Wi-Fi for passengers.

The construction time is estimated to be seven years.

Ngô Mạnh Tuấn, deputy director of the department, said using PPP to construct the bus shelters was appropriate as the State budget was limited.

The model would draw private investment and advanced technology, he said.

At first, the investor would cover all initial costs, he said.

In exchange, the investor would be allowed to install 1,200 advertising boards on roads' median in the city. Then the investor would recover its investment capital in 20 years from advertising revenue, he said.

The department said the city now had 1,078 bus stops and only 365 bus shelters.

However, current bus shelters vary in their quality, with some lacking chairs and some only providing printed bus routes instead of electronic.

The department said it wanted to improve bus shelters in the city to better serve passengers and improve the image of the city. — VNS