In the afternoon of February 13th (ie December 26th), the last working day before the 9-day Lunar New Year holiday of Binh Ngo, traffic at many gateways of Hanoi fell into local congestion. Vehicles lined up moving slowly, especially on roads heading towards highways and national highways.
Recorded from 4 pm, Ring Road 2 and Ring Road 3 elevated roads both appeared with long lines of cars, moving meter by meter at the up and down points. Ring Road 3 elevated road section through Kim Van - Kim Lu area was congested in both directions when vehicles poured into Phap Van intersection to go to the expressway and Thanh Tri bridge.
In front of the My Dinh Bus Station gate, traffic on Pham Hung street was tense at many times. Motorbikes and cars were crowded, and loud sirens stretched for kilometers. Traffic police had to continuously divert and regulate traffic to limit traffic conflicts. A similar situation also occurred on the Giai Phong axis, the section from Giap Bat Bus Station to Nuoc Ngam, when passenger cars and buses lined up waiting to enter the station.
Because he had an early day off, Mr. Vu Van Hiep (from Ninh Binh) left the city center from the early afternoon in the hope of avoiding traffic jams. However, when he reached Giai Phong street, he still had to "squeeze" every meter because cars lined up horizontally, and motorbikes had difficulty dodging. "There are red lights that require waiting 4-5 times to pass. Prolonged traffic jams accompanied by dust make everyone tired, easily'stuck' for hours before reaching National Highway 1," Mr. Hiep shared.
Traveling by bus from Nguyen Van Cu to Giap Bat Bus Station, Ms. Pham Thi Khuyen (from Thanh Hoa, working as a maid) said that the distance of more than 10km takes over an hour. Because the route to Nong Cong district has few trips while the number of passengers is increasing, she proactively booked tickets 3 days in advance. "The bus waiting area is crowded, everyone is carrying a lot of luggage. The ticket price is 250,000 VND, not higher than usual," she said.
Waiting for a bus to Yen Cat (Thanh Hoa), Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa and his family of four said that they had to wait nearly 30 minutes for the bus to turn around to pick up passengers. "Every holiday and Tet, taking a passenger car is a true'march', requiring a lot of patience because of traffic jams and jostling," Mr. Hoa joked.
According to the leader of Giap Bat Bus Station, the number of passengers in the afternoon of December 26th and December 27th increased compared to normal days but there was no overload. The reason is that students have returned to their hometowns sporadically before December 23rd, along with the trend of people using personal vehicles, contract vehicles, and combined vehicles increasingly.
In case the number of passengers is concentrated at the same time, the station will mobilize additional vehicles licensed by the Department of Construction to promptly clear them, not allowing passengers to arrive at the station without buses to return home," said the station leader. At the same time, the station arranges staff to be on duty at key locations, coordinates with ward police and traffic police to ensure security and order, regulate vehicles entering and leaving the station; resolutely not allowing violating businesses to leave the station.
In the aviation sector, Noi Bai International Airport began to record a sharp increase in passenger traffic on December 26, with an estimated more than 116,000 passengers and 729 flights taking off and landing. Of which, domestic passengers reached about 64,700, international passengers more than 51,300. The airport has coordinated with border gate police and traffic police to optimize the security control chain, traffic diversion in the parking area and terminal lobby, ensuring safety during the Tet peak.
Directly inspecting service work at Giap Bat Bus Station and Nuoc Ngam Bus Station, Deputy Minister Le Anh Tuan (Ministry of Construction) requested units to put passenger rights first, strictly maintain transport discipline, strengthen the application of technology in ticket operation and sales, publicize ticket prices and routes so that people can easily access information, travel safely and conveniently during the peak Tet holiday.
