HCM City plans public bicycle hire service

HCM City Department of Transport plans to launch a public bicycle hire service in the city centre.

This will be among seven measures that the department will carry out this year to raise the quality of public transport, particularly bus services.
 

A bus stop in HCM City

With the bicycle sharing service, people can move between bus stations more conveniently, helping to cut their waiting time or travel on short distances in inner-city areas.

The department is working with consulting companies for the management method of the service. An electronic lock may be used for the bicycle management with the user’s information saved.

People can borrow bicycles for an hour free of charge and then can return them at different bus stops.

The municipal Department of Transport will also pilot arranging separate lanes for bus on some streets, including Dien Bien Phu and Vo Thi Sau.

The city has considered using small buses for the connection with metro and bus rapid transit routes.

Bus service operators in HCM City are struggling to retain passengers although the service has continued receiving subsidies to keep fares affordable.

According to the HCM City Centre for Public Transport Management and Operation, in the first 10 months of 2016, 182.3 million took trips, down 11.4% against the same period of last year and fulfilling just 61.8% of the year’s target.

To improve bus services, experts suggested that it was necessary to have bus lanes and replace out-dated buses with environmentally-friendly new models.

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