>> New express bus lines to ease Hanoi’s traffic

Ho Chi Minh City has decided to build a bus rapid route, or BRT, to replace a more costly tramway project.

Le Trung Tinh, Head of the municipal Transport Department’s Transport Management Office, said the 12-km BRT line, the first of its kind in the city, will be built along Vo Van Kiet Highway.

The route will be serviced by buses that can carry 80 passengers. The cost of building one kilometre of road needed for the BRT will be about USD1 to USD2 million, compared with the USD20 million per kilometre for the tramway, or USD100million per kilometre of a metro line, Tinh said.

Around 10% of roads in Ho Chi Minh City have six lanes and more, which could accommodate BRT operation, he noted, adding that the BRT route is the most efficient way to improve the traffic situation in the city.

Earlier, the municipal People’s Committee handed over the tramway project to a partnership contractor, consisting of Vietnam’s Thanh Danh Trading and Production Ltd. Co. and Malaysia’s Titanium Management Co., as a build-transfer-operate (BOT) project.

However, in April 2010, the contractor submitted the committee an estimated cost totaling EUR22 million (USD306.9 million), and also asked for extra compensation for rises in prices of materials amounting to VND10 trillion (USD49.1 million) for the first 15-year operation.

As a result, the city decided to implement the BRT project instead.

The capital city of Hanoi also plans to start its first fast-bus route in the third quarter of this year, with an aim to ease current heavy traffic. The 17.4-km route will consist of 80 buses, with 80 seats each, and will run along the streets of Kim Ma, Giang Vo, Lang Ha, Le Van Luong, Le Trong Tan, National Highway No. 6 and Yen Nghia bus station in Ha Dong district.