Ben Thanh – Suoi Tien is just a short distance of about 20km in a big city, it cannot fundamentally solve the problem of public passenger transport. But from this project, many lessons can certainly be drawn.
So after 17 long years, on the morning of December 22, the Ben Thanh – Suoi Tien metro train in Ho Chi Minh City officially started rolling. Thousands of people crowded in line from early morning waiting to board the train, enough to say how much they have been waiting for all these years.
Ho Chi Minh City residents crowded to experience the first metro trip on December 22.
However, it is necessary to recognize the fact that Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien is only a short distance of about 20km in a city with over 4,000km of roads, it cannot fundamentally solve the problem of public passenger transport for the city.
But from the implementation of this project, the government and authorities have certainly drawn important lessons to gain experience when implementing the next routes.
It can be seen that during the 17 years of implementing the metro line 1 project, many problems have arisen such as site clearance, relocation of underground obstacles, changes in technical specifications based on actual conditions at the construction site, contract procedures...
All these experiences are valuable lessons for the future. It is worth noting that we must prepare a clean, legal site, a standard contract, and autonomy...
Especially the preparation of human resources to operate the project and receive technology transfer. In this case, the Japanese side has been very dedicated to transferring technology to build and operate metro, helping us train technical human resources to be self-sufficient in building sustainable infrastructure. This is very meaningful when Vietnam continues to deploy other metro lines.
Another lesson that is taking shape is the development of the TOD model (Transit Oriented Development) along metro stations. This not only helps urban residents change their habits of limiting personal vehicles to public transport, reducing pressure on urban infrastructure, but also creates new urban areas as a driving force for development.
However, up to now, along metro line 1, TOD is just an idea. The connection of stations to bus routes is only at the minimum level of transportation function. Developing TOD is still a long way off.
Or if you want to change people’s travel habits, metro alone is not enough. Along with new infrastructure, the government must also have a persistent communication program, encouraging people to reduce personal vehicles and use public transport. Along with that, it is necessary to create convenience at stations – especially suburban stations – for passengers to be able to park their cars and motorbikes at affordable prices to get on the metro, get on the bus into the city…
Looking at the world, we see that developed countries all have good transport infrastructure and high social awareness of citizens. They choose public transport to reduce pressure on social infrastructure, to protect the environment and save resources.
We are not there yet, but it is completely possible, when we both save up to invest in improving infrastructure and have a communication policy to change people's awareness so that they support and choose public transport.
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/bai-hoc-tu-metro-ben-thanh-suoi-tien-192241222162618146.htm
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