A 75-year-old reader shared his story with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper of bus drivers and attendants in Ho Chi Minh City discriminating against old people and students who are entitled to bus fare exemptions or reductions.

Hoang Long said the bus drivers and attendants showed no respect for him as they repeatedly ignored his requests to get off the buses.

At about 11:00 am on June 4, he caught a bus of route No. 3 on Nguyen Kiem Street in Go Vap District to travel to Phu Nhuan District, he recalled.

When the bus was traveling on Phan Dinh Phung Street in Phu Nhuan District, he pushed a button on the vehicle twice to signal the driver that he wanted to get off.

However, the driver did not stop the vehicle until it arrived at a bus stop on Hai Ba Trung Street in District 3.

The bus driver’s behavior made him upset and feel that he was disrespected. He later thought that the driver might have forgot and did not do it on purpose.

However, he took buses on other routes several days later and faced the same fate again.

When getting on one of the buses, he told the driver that he would get off at the bus stop near the Military Hospital 175 in Go Vap District.

When the bus was meters from the bus stop, a girl helped him push the button but the driver passed the bus stop.

He just stopped to let him get off when another passenger shouted loudly, asking the bus driver to stop the vehicle.

He had to walk about 700 meters to the hospital.

At the time, he found that the bus drivers and attendants discriminated against those using services at no charge.

The reader reported that an attendant on a bus of route 152 created difficulties for students entitled to half-price bus fares.

"When my grandchild showed his student card, the attendant refused it and said that the card was invalid," the reader said.

Fully paying for bus tickets is not a problem, it is the attendant’s behavior. 

“Student cards are issued once a year, how can they expire?” Long asked.

The city's policy of waiving fares for bus passengers aged 70 and older aims to encourage more people to use public transportation, as elderly passengers are often accompanied by their children or grandchildren.

However, Long reported that some bus drivers and attendants have deliberately caused difficulties for the elderly.

In some cases, they have refused to pick up older passengers or let them off at their requested stops.

He suggested regularly inspecting and supervising bus drivers and attendants and heavily punishing those intentionally inconveniencing passengers.

The Ho Chi Minh City Management Center of Public Transport stated on Wednesday that it bans discrimination against elderly passengers and children.

The center urges bus drivers and attendants to behave courteously and serve passengers well to help improve the quality of bus services in the southern metropolis.

In response to the reader’s complaints, the center has coordinated with the operator of bus route Nos. 3 and 4, instructing them to address the issue with their drivers and attendants to prevent similar incidents.

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