Ho Chi Minh City: Despite being modern and well-equipped, the new Eastern Bus Station is sparsely populated as Tet approaches, overshadowed by the bustling scene of cars picking up passengers at gas stations and roadside pick-up points.
On a late January afternoon, Bui Diem, 35, a factory worker in Thu Duc City, and her younger sister, laden with luggage, took a taxi to National Highway 1, near the Linh Xuan intersection, to wait for a bus to Binh Dinh. They had booked sleeper tickets with Thanh Long bus company more than a month ago, but didn't know the fare because after confirming the time, the company told them to wait at the designated location before paying.
"Normally, the ticket price from Ho Chi Minh City to Binh Dinh is nearly 400,000 VND, and during Tet it can more than double, but I accept it because the bus is near my house and easy to catch," said Ms. Diem, adding that although the ticket price is higher than that sold by bus companies at the new Eastern Bus Station in Thu Duc City, she doesn't buy tickets there because the road to the station is far and inconvenient, and it's difficult to book sleeper tickets for the same route.
Passengers wait for buses on National Highway 1, near Linh Xuan intersection, late January 2024. Photo: Gia Minh
Unlike Ms. Diem, Nguyen Khanh, 25 years old, who works in the Song Than Industrial Zone, also went to National Highway 1 to catch a bus to Quang Ngai , but he didn't book a ticket in advance, just "take whichever bus is convenient." "I'm going home alone, and I don't have much luggage, so I don't need to prepare much. Instead of wasting time and spending extra money on a motorbike taxi to the bus station, catching a bus here is more convenient," he said.
National Highway 1 near Linh Xuan intersection is one of the locations in Ho Chi Minh City where buses operating on fixed routes stop to pick up and drop off passengers, making it convenient for people living nearby to board instead of having to go around to the bus station. Most of the buses that stop at this location are heading to Central and Northern Vietnam. However, many unlicensed buses, falsely claiming to operate contract services, also pull into the area to solicit passengers.
The permitted stopping and parking time here is only 3 minutes, but many vehicles continuously signal, leave their doors open, and park for 30 minutes to an hour to pick up passengers. At certain times, nearly a dozen cars line up, with hundreds of passengers standing and sitting underneath, making the area resemble a miniature bus station.
More than 4 km away, National Highway 1, specifically the section passing the Tam Binh 2 gas station, is also a familiar spot for many people looking for rides. At this location, many unlicensed taxis park, waiting to pick up passengers who have booked in advance or passersby. In the evening, the picking up and dropping off of passengers in this area becomes even more rampant and open. This situation also flares up at many gas stations and parking lots along National Highways 13 and Hanoi Expressway... due to the increased travel demand during Tet (Lunar New Year).
Passengers wait to board a bus at a gas station on National Highway 1, near Binh Phuoc intersection, late January 2024. Photo: Gia Minh
In stark contrast to the bustling scene of buses picking up passengers outside, the new Eastern Bus Station has been sparsely populated in recent days, even though the Lunar New Year is only 10 days away. This bus station, the largest in the country with an investment of over 4 trillion VND, is capable of serving millions of passengers annually. However, after more than three years since its first phase of operation, the station has consistently been deserted.
Mr. Nguyen Lam Hai, Deputy Director of the new Eastern Bus Station, said that in recent months, the number of passengers passing through the station has increased compared to before due to the Tet holiday season, but it is still not as high as expected. Statistics for January show that on average, the station has 274 departures per day carrying approximately 4,000 passengers, reaching only nearly 5% of its capacity. Besides the reasons of the bus station being far from the city center and inconvenient transportation connections, Mr. Hai said that the proliferation of illegal buses and makeshift bus stops at the end of the year also affects businesses operating within the station.
Currently, the new Eastern Bus Station has 96 registered transport companies operating fixed routes, but only 57 are actually active because many companies have moved their vehicles to other stations. Meanwhile, routes from some interprovincial stations in Ho Chi Minh City pass through the new station, so transport companies arrange to pick up passengers in advance, making it even harder for the station to attract passengers. Not to mention, many buses deviate from their designated routes to pick up passengers, further complicating matters for transport companies at the station.
Few passengers at the new Eastern Bus Station, late January 2024. Photo: Gia Minh
To mitigate this situation, the management of the new Eastern Bus Station has proposed that authorities increase inspections of commercial transport vehicles using vehicle tracking devices. This will help determine whether vehicles registered at the station are operating on the correct routes, or whether vehicles labeled as contract vehicles are operating as fixed-route vehicles, in order to promptly address and reduce illegal taxis and unauthorized bus stops.
On the other hand, the bus station also proposed that the city stop allowing fixed-route buses to pick up and drop off passengers on Mai Chi Tho Street and the section near Linh Xuan intersection in order to limit the situation of buses picking up and dropping off passengers, which causes traffic safety hazards and reduces congestion.
Mr. Do Ngoc Hai, Head of the Transport Management Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, said that the increased travel demand during Tet (Lunar New Year) has led to more traffic congestion in some areas, including an increase in illegal taxis and unauthorized bus stops. Preliminary statistics show that there are currently 60 illegal passenger pick-up and drop-off points in the city. Functional units are focusing on inspection and enforcement, especially in gateway areas and around bus stations.
Regarding the new Eastern Bus Terminal, Mr. Hai said that many solutions have been implemented to increase operational efficiency. These include the arrangement of many bus routes connecting directly to the terminal, and the deployment of a free shuttle bus network. At the same time, components of the overpass and underpass project in front of the terminal are also about to be put into operation, facilitating the passage of passenger buses.
Furthermore, according to the plan, Metro Line 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien) will be operational from July this year, connecting to the new Eastern Bus Station, making the area a major transportation hub with various types of large-scale passenger transport, inter-provincial transfers, and access to and from the city center. The city is also implementing a project to increase bus connections with this railway line, in which bus routes will link with the bus station to create a public transport network for the entire area.
Previously, Ho Chi Minh City banned cars from stopping and parking on many inner-city roads to limit vehicles picking up and dropping off passengers along the way and help reduce traffic congestion. Some "hot spots" also had additional cameras installed to issue fines for cars, but the results were not as expected; congestion only decreased during enforcement campaigns before recurring. Early last year, the city banned sleeper buses from entering the inner city between 6 AM and 10 PM, and is considering extending this to 24/7 to reduce the number of illegal buses and makeshift bus stops.
Gia Minh
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