A BRT bus. (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - An estimated 380,000passengers travelled on the bus rapid transit (BRT) in January – the firstmonth Hanoi has operated the new public transport service.
The bus, which provides free trips forpassengers until February 05, runs a 14km route from Kim Ma Street to Yen NghiaBus Station, and takes between 30-45 minutes. The buses have free Wi-Fi servicefor passengers
Do Minh Thu, a 30-year-old passenger from Dong DaStreet, said she felt the BRT’s service was okay.
Announcements on the BRT for passengers to geton and off at boarding points were clear and useful, she said.
“The BRT driver is very friendly,” she said.
However, Thu also named a couple of issues shefound to be inconvenient. First, the placement of seats facing backwards wasmore likely to cause motion sickness for some users.
Thu preferred rows of seats facing the samedirection, like on a normal bus, she said.
Second, the distance from her home on De La ThanhStreet to the boarding point on Giang Vo – Lang Ha was quite far, and she hadto take a motorbike taxi because of a lack of pavements, she said.
Nguyen Hoang Hai, director of the Hanoi PublicTransport Management and Operation Centre, said data showed that on a normalday, the average number of passengers was about 40 on each BRT.
However, during Tet (Lunar NewYear) holidays, the number dropped to about 10-15 passengers, mostly theelderly, he said.
Over the past month of operating the BRT, manyvehicles were found driving in the BRT-only lane.
According to the Traffic Police Division under Hanoi’sPublic Security Department, traffic police would start to impose fines onviolators found driving in the BRT-only lane from this month.
Traffic police would fine violators directly,and violations would also be caught by traffic cameras, the police said.
Following Government Decree 46/2016/NĐ-CP issuedin 2016, automobiles driving in the BRT lane would receive a fine of 800,000-1.2million VND (35-53 USD), and motorbikes 300,000-400,000 VND (13-17 USD).
The city has planned to run eight BRT routes by2030.-VNA
The bus, which provides free trips forpassengers until February 05, runs a 14km route from Kim Ma Street to Yen NghiaBus Station, and takes between 30-45 minutes. The buses have free Wi-Fi servicefor passengers
Do Minh Thu, a 30-year-old passenger from Dong DaStreet, said she felt the BRT’s service was okay.
Announcements on the BRT for passengers to geton and off at boarding points were clear and useful, she said.
“The BRT driver is very friendly,” she said.
However, Thu also named a couple of issues shefound to be inconvenient. First, the placement of seats facing backwards wasmore likely to cause motion sickness for some users.
Thu preferred rows of seats facing the samedirection, like on a normal bus, she said.
Second, the distance from her home on De La ThanhStreet to the boarding point on Giang Vo – Lang Ha was quite far, and she hadto take a motorbike taxi because of a lack of pavements, she said.
Nguyen Hoang Hai, director of the Hanoi PublicTransport Management and Operation Centre, said data showed that on a normalday, the average number of passengers was about 40 on each BRT.
However, during Tet (Lunar NewYear) holidays, the number dropped to about 10-15 passengers, mostly theelderly, he said.
Over the past month of operating the BRT, manyvehicles were found driving in the BRT-only lane.
According to the Traffic Police Division under Hanoi’sPublic Security Department, traffic police would start to impose fines onviolators found driving in the BRT-only lane from this month.
Traffic police would fine violators directly,and violations would also be caught by traffic cameras, the police said.
Following Government Decree 46/2016/NĐ-CP issuedin 2016, automobiles driving in the BRT lane would receive a fine of 800,000-1.2million VND (35-53 USD), and motorbikes 300,000-400,000 VND (13-17 USD).
The city has planned to run eight BRT routes by2030.-VNA
VNA
