Should passenger buses be given a star rating?

Star ratings for passenger buses not only help passengers differentiate the quality of service between transport companies but also help businesses measure passenger satisfaction. However, should this be mandatory?

Encourage the disclosure of service quality.

For over two years, Ha Son - Hai Van Transport Company Limited has been providing a 5-star standard lounge service for passengers, similar to VIP lounges at airports.

While waiting for their bus to depart, passengers can sit and enjoy coffee, choose from about 20 types of free food and drinks, and use modern amenities.

Recently, many transportation companies have developed and published service quality standards to impress passengers. Photo: Ta Hai.

Mr. Le Viet Son, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, shared that the VIP lounge system has received high praise from customers. The number of customers using the VIP lounge service reaches over 800,000 per year.

To provide greater convenience for customers, the company has introduced smart booking applications via app and website, and uses shuttle services to pick up and drop off passengers at their homes in some areas.

Recently, many transport companies have followed the example of Ha Son - Hai Van by establishing and publishing service quality standards for VIP, high-quality, "air-on-the-ground" vehicles to impress passengers. However, not many businesses have adopted this approach.

According to statistics from the Vietnam Road Administration, there are currently 86,000 transport businesses nationwide with over 921,000 vehicles. The majority of these businesses are small-scale and fragmented, resulting in insufficient attention paid to safety and service quality management.

To guide the implementation of the 2024 Road Law, the Ministry of Transport has just issued Circular No. 36/2024 regulating the organization and management of road transport activities and the operation of bus stations, parking lots, and rest stops.

The regulations stipulate that: Businesses providing fixed-route passenger transport, public passenger transport by bus, and taxi must develop and publish service quality standards for their transport services.

According to a representative from the Vietnam Road Administration, the regulations aim to encourage transport companies to develop and publicize service quality, including: vehicle quality; drivers and service personnel; routes; organization and management of the company; and passenger rights.

"For example, businesses can list and publicize the quality of their services, such as providing cold towels and free drinks on board, having VIP waiting rooms, and offering free snacks, to attract customers. The extent to which they register is up to the business to decide," the representative said.

Should it be mandatory?

Many argue that, instead of encouraging, the transportation business should be conditional, and that standards for transportation service quality should be issued to strengthen management and supervision.

During an inspection tour of bus stations in Hanoi at the beginning of 2024, the leaders of the Hanoi People's Committee suggested several solutions, including the issue of assigning star ratings to passenger buses to improve service quality.

Mr. Khuc Huu Thanh Hai, Director of Dat Cang Transport, Trade and Service Joint Stock Company, expressed that awarding star ratings to passenger buses is an opportunity for businesses to improve the quality of their transportation services.

If there are clear criteria, businesses will compete fairly and transparently. At the same time, bus stations should also be awarded stars to reflect their transportation services.

Many transport company leaders also believe that post-inspection should be entrusted to the Departments of Transport because these agencies can manage both the quantity and quality of vehicles, and understand the quality of services provided by businesses in their areas.

However, according to a transportation expert, in reality, large-scale transport companies like Van Minh, Mai Linh, Kumho - Samco, etc., are all strong brands and the choice of many customers. Therefore, customers are the ones who decide on the star rating, and there is no need for additional documents or regulations.

The state does not interfere in business operations.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Quyen, Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, mandating service standards is a good idea.

However, the Vietnamese transportation sector is characterized by its small-scale, fragmented operations, with cooperatives and individual business households accounting for a large proportion. Therefore, the issuance of service quality standards is merely a formality.

Furthermore, transportation services are highly abstract products, making it difficult to establish a standard for evaluation. Meanwhile, users of these services have diverse quality requirements; not everyone has the same needs.

According to Mr. Quyen, regulations on service quality should only be for guidance purposes, while businesses should proactively disclose their own standards to attract customers.

Regarding this matter, a representative from the Vietnam Road Administration stated that they were previously tasked with issuing quality standards for passenger transport services by automobile (assigning stars to vehicles and classifying them into 5 categories from 1 to 5 stars).

However, this regulation was later abolished because, according to a proposal from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the state should not interfere in the internal affairs of businesses.

According to a representative of the Vietnam Road Administration, although not mandatory, if a transport company has established, registered, and published service quality standards but fails to comply with them, and passengers complain to the authorities, it will be penalized according to the regulations in Decree 100/2020 for the violation of not ensuring the registered service quality.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/co-nen-gan-sao-cho-xe-khach-192241205222233925.htm