Hanoi
BRT: Overcoming difficulties to realize potential
On December 31, 2016, the first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route No. 01 Yen Nghia – Kim Ma had officially gone into operation.
According to experts, BRT is expected to partially solve traffic congestion, but at the same time would face difficulties at the beginning, in particular the pressure from the public.
BRT is one of the 3 components in the Hanoi Urban transport investment project, which was approved in 2007 and financed by the Official Development Assistance (ODA) of the World Bank. In reality, in 2013, the BRT route No.01 Yen Nghia – Kim Ma had been constructed, but due to delays and difficulties in construction, only until December 31, 2016 this BRT route had gone into operation. The component of BRT was approved with total investment of 53.6 million USD, which at the end of the project the disbursement amount was 35 million USD. Senior transport specialist of the World Bank, Mr. Paul Vallely said: “In reality, BRT has been implemented efficiently in many countries in the world, which meet the transport demand of the public for low investment requirement. With the rapid growth of Hanoi population, as well as the number of individual transport vehicles, the implementation of BRT is necessary”.
Mr. Vu Ha – one of the engineer taking part in the constructing process of BRT said: ”It is necessary to give priority to BRT, so that this kind of public transport service can maximize its efficiency and advantages”. However, due to limited transport infrastructure, it is difficult for BRT to have its exclusive lane. Moreover, the operation route of BRT from Kim Ma station – Giang Vo – Lang Ha – Le Van Luong – Le Trong Tan – Ba La – Yen Nghia station, BRT has to move through streets with high frequency of traffic congestion. Therefore, it is unavoidable that BRT is facing criticism and doubt from the public.
In reality, despite having received positive responses from Hanoians, there remains opposite opinions with regard to the efficiency of BRT, especially the idea of giving exclusive lane for BRT; which is seen as to have negative impact on other transport vehicles and cause traffic congestion. However, representative of the Hanoi Transport Company said: “If the project do not have the support from citizens, despite how good and efficient this project is, BRT will not match the expectation on time and the amount of passengers transported”. As such, the prerequisite condition for BRT to be efficient in time is to have its exclusive lane. If other transport vehicles go on its route, the advantage of BRT will be significantly restricted.
Director of the Urban Transport operation and management center Nguyen Hoang Hai said, it is too soon to criticize BRT. “Any transport model will take time to grow. Only in few months of its operation, BRT has attracted 23% passengers to use this model instead of individual transport vehicles. In the context of citizens still in favor of individual transport vehicles, this is seen as a positive result” – Mr. Hai said.
In addition to not having its exclusive lane, operating on the same road with other transport vehicles is the biggest limitation of buses at present. Chairman of the Hanoi Public Transport Association Nguyen Trong Thong said: “Hanoi need to have specific and efficient solutions to develop transport infrastructure for bus in general and BRT in particular, so that it will support the transport demand of citizens efficiently. Without priority in infrastructure, any kind of public transport will fail”.
BRT Station in Lang Ha Street.
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Mr. Vu Ha – one of the engineer taking part in the constructing process of BRT said: ”It is necessary to give priority to BRT, so that this kind of public transport service can maximize its efficiency and advantages”. However, due to limited transport infrastructure, it is difficult for BRT to have its exclusive lane. Moreover, the operation route of BRT from Kim Ma station – Giang Vo – Lang Ha – Le Van Luong – Le Trong Tan – Ba La – Yen Nghia station, BRT has to move through streets with high frequency of traffic congestion. Therefore, it is unavoidable that BRT is facing criticism and doubt from the public.
In reality, despite having received positive responses from Hanoians, there remains opposite opinions with regard to the efficiency of BRT, especially the idea of giving exclusive lane for BRT; which is seen as to have negative impact on other transport vehicles and cause traffic congestion. However, representative of the Hanoi Transport Company said: “If the project do not have the support from citizens, despite how good and efficient this project is, BRT will not match the expectation on time and the amount of passengers transported”. As such, the prerequisite condition for BRT to be efficient in time is to have its exclusive lane. If other transport vehicles go on its route, the advantage of BRT will be significantly restricted.
Director of the Urban Transport operation and management center Nguyen Hoang Hai said, it is too soon to criticize BRT. “Any transport model will take time to grow. Only in few months of its operation, BRT has attracted 23% passengers to use this model instead of individual transport vehicles. In the context of citizens still in favor of individual transport vehicles, this is seen as a positive result” – Mr. Hai said.
In addition to not having its exclusive lane, operating on the same road with other transport vehicles is the biggest limitation of buses at present. Chairman of the Hanoi Public Transport Association Nguyen Trong Thong said: “Hanoi need to have specific and efficient solutions to develop transport infrastructure for bus in general and BRT in particular, so that it will support the transport demand of citizens efficiently. Without priority in infrastructure, any kind of public transport will fail”.
