Passengers satisfied with electric buses
One afternoon in early August, Ho Chi Minh City was pouring rain. Dozens of people of all ages sat side by side in the waiting room at the Saigon bus station on Pham Ngu Lao Street, District 1. Every few minutes, a bus left the station.
People feel comfortable traveling on electric buses.
Ms. Phan Thi Dang (64 years old, from Tay Ninh) said that she traveled from Tay Ninh to Vinhomes Grand Park (Long Thanh My ward, Thu Duc city) to visit her family. To reach this final destination, she had to take 3 bus stops from Trang Bang to Cu Chi and then to the city center. From here, she took the electric bus to Vinhomes Grand Park.
“The other two trips I took the regular bus, the bus was good but the smell of oil was a bit unpleasant, many people got tired and carsick from the long trip. The electric bus was more spacious and comfortable,” Ms. Dang shared.
Because she often goes to Ho Chi Minh City for medical examination, Ms. Dang has to take many different types of buses. Her feeling is that buses in Ho Chi Minh City are getting better every day, both in quality and service attitude. However, she hopes that there will be more electric bus routes put into service for passengers.
Similarly, Thu Trang (20 years old), a student at Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport, is very satisfied with the electric bus. “I take several bus routes a day and find that the buses are all new, clean and air-conditioned. But I still like the electric bus the most because it is smooth. The staff is also enthusiastic and polite. The ticket price for students is only 3,000 VND/trip,” Trang said.
According to the reporter, most of the electric bus routes are crowded with passengers. Every time passengers step on the bus, the staff and drivers greet them warmly. All stops have automatic announcement systems, in addition, the system also notifies customers to get on and off the bus safely.
New investment must be electric and CNG vehicles
Aiming to develop green transportation, Ho Chi Minh City is building a roadmap to convert public vehicles using diesel to green vehicles, with priority given to electric vehicles.
Mr. Pham Vuong Bao, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center, said that the city currently has 2,209 buses in operation. Of these, 546 are CNG-powered (accounting for 24.7%) and 18 are electric buses.
From now until 2025, all old buses that are replaced must be CNG and electric. Routes that are currently using CNG buses will continue to be allowed to be replaced with vehicles of the same type. From 2025 to 2030, the city will open 72 new bus routes with 1,108 buses. These new buses must be electric.
“By 2030, 100% of buses in Ho Chi Minh City will use green energy,” Mr. Bao affirmed, adding that he has completed the bus conversion roadmap to seek opinions from departments and branches and submit it to the city in September 2024.
Dr. Le Van Nghia (Hanoi University of Science and Technology) said that the total CO2 emissions from diesel and CNG buses into the environment each year in Ho Chi Minh City is up to 7,981 tons. If all diesel and CNG buses are converted to electric buses, the total emissions will be only 4,077 tons, a reduction of 48.93%.
Need a mechanism to encourage socialization
Although there is a specific roadmap, Mr. Pham Vuong Bao also said that the implementation will face many difficulties. Currently, the city only has one charging station for electric buses, invested by Vinbus for the D4 route which is being piloted. At the same time, there are only 3 CNG filling stations with a capacity of 180 vehicles/day.
Ho Chi Minh City aims for 100% green buses by 2030.
Meanwhile, the investment and operating costs of electric vehicles are 13% higher than those of diesel vehicles. The initial investment costs of electric vehicles are also higher than those of diesel vehicles. Technical standards and regulations are not yet complete, and there is no master plan for the development of the electric vehicle charging station network, so the investment method (State or socialized) has not been determined.
Mr. Bao said that the Working Group implementing the project proposed that Ho Chi Minh City should have policies to encourage, support and provide incentives for investment and conversion of buses using green energy. Specifically, support on loan interest rates, fixed at 3%/year for businesses borrowing investment capital; support 100% of equipment import tax; exempt registration fees, road and bridge fees... for electric buses, clean energy.
The working group also proposed the policy of building and installing electric charging stations and fuel filling stations. For example, they could be installed at bus stations such as District 8, An Suong, Nga Tu Ga, the new Western and Eastern bus stations. In the short term, it is possible to call on state units to invest in building the basic system, and later, if there is a systematic plan, it is possible to mobilize social resources.
Consider piloting in Can Gio
Up to now, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has had a policy to organize the development of a project to control vehicle emissions in Ho Chi Minh City in 2 phases.
Phase 1 focuses on researching and developing policies to support and encourage the conversion of public transport (public buses, taxis, technology motorbikes) to use green energy in the area; submit to the City People's Council for approval of the policy at the thematic session in September 2024.
Phase 2, consider selecting Can Gio district as one of the priority units to pilot the conversion of means of transport using electric energy. Completion time in the second quarter of 2025.
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/tphcm-chot-lo-trinh-dau-tu-xe-buyt-dien-19224083009401151.htm
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