Ho Chi Minh City's authorities have decided to add 12 new routes to its bus network to strengthen the connectivity between the southern Vietnamese economic hub and its neighboring localities.

The People’s Committee made the decision based on a proposal by the municipal Department of Transport in early June for expanding the city’s bus network to meet the increasing travel demand, ease traffic congestion, and promote urban civilization.

Among these new routes are four minibus routes, from Binh An Waterbus Station in District 2 to the Saigon Bus Station in District 1 (19.5 kilometers) and to Lien Phuong Street in Thu Duc City (18 kilometers); from Phong Phu 5 Residential Area in District 7 (16.5 kilometers); and from the T30 Residential Area in Binh Chanh District to the University of Finance and Marketing (14 kilometers).

These routes can operate on narrow streets leading to new urban areas, industrial parks, and major traffic axes and can connect with other transport modals, according to the department.

Meanwhile, the four high-quality routes run from An Lac in Binh Chanh District to Rach Chiec in Thu Duc (21.3 kilometers); from An Lac to Ben Thanh Market in District 1 (14.4 kilometers); from Cho Lon in District 6 to Rach Chiec (15.7 kilometers), and from Ben Thanh to Rach Chiec (10.8 kilometers).

In addition, four more interprovincial bus routes are going to link the city with the provinces of Tien Giang, Dong Nai and Tay Ninh.

The 12 new routes will help increase the city’s bus density and improve traffic connectivity between it and neighboring provinces, promoting overall socio-economic development of the region, the department said.

Currently, Ho Chi Minh City has 128 bus routes in operation, including 91 subsidized and 37 non-subsidized routes, Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper cited the department.

This network includes 101 intra-provincial bus routes and 27 others that link the city with adjacent provinces including Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An, Tien Giang, Tay Ninh and Ba Ria - Vung Tau.

Last year, due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, the total number of bus passengers in Ho Chi Minh City dropped by 57 percent from 2020 to 53 million.

This year, the city has set a target of servicing 232 million passengers, 4.3 times more than in 2021.

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