HCM City halts 144 million USD BRT project over feasibility
Ho Chi Minh City’s administration has decided to suspend its plans to build the city’s first bus rapid transit system (BRT) after being informed by the transport department that the project was not feasible.
An artist’s impression of the BRT station in HCM City (Photo courtesy of HCM City’s Department of Transport)
HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City’s administrationhas decided to suspend its plans to build the city’s first bus rapid transitsystem (BRT) after being informed by the transport department that the projectwas not feasible.
Earlier, the HCM City People’s Committee had assigned the UrbanCivil Works Construction – Investment and Management Authority to be theinvestor for the city’s first BRT route.
The BRT route was planned to operate on a total of 23 kilometresthrough districts 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, Binh Tan and Binh Chanh, with total investmentof 144 million USD.
However, the Transport Department said that only 17,700passengers were projected to use the BRT route from Vo Van Kiet and Mai Chi Thostreets, instead of the 24,700 passengers previously projected.
The figure is not that much higher than the number of people whouse ordinary buses, and even lower on some routes, while the BRT would costmuch more than ordinary buses, according to the department.
A BRT system would have required investment in a number ofcomponents, including waiting rooms, intelligent ticket control equipment, anddedicated lanes on land areas not readily available for use in the city.
For these reasons, at a recent meeting with the TransportDepartment and investors, Vice Chairman of the HCM City’s People Committee TranVinh Tuyen agreed to develop high-quality bus routes instead of the BRTproject. Previously, the government had approved six BRT routes forHCM City.
HCM City has three high-quality bus routes that connect Tan SonNhat International Airport with downtown, hospitals and coach stations.
Buses on these routes have low-emission engines which meetEuropean standards and surveillance cameras on board.-VNA
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An artist’s impression of the BRT station in HCM City (Photo courtesy of HCM City’s Department of Transport) 
