The new Eastern Bus Station in Thu Duc City will implement the Tet service schedule from January 19, 2025 to February 7, 2025 (ie from December 20 to January 10 of the lunar calendar). Ticket prices will increase from 40-60% depending on the route and time.
Route from Quang Ngai to the Northern provinces: Ticket prices increase by no more than 40% from December 15 to December 18 and no more than 60% from December 19 to the 4th day of Tet.
Routes to Phu Yen and Binh Dinh: Maximum increase of 40% from December 16 to 18 and maximum of 60% from December 19 to the 4th day of Tet.
Routes to Ninh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong and the Central Highlands: Price increase by no more than 40% from December 19 to 22 and no more than 60% from December 23 to the 5th day of Tet.
Binh Thuan route: Ticket prices increase by no more than 60% from December 23 to the 5th day of Tet.
Routes to Ba Ria - Vung Tau, the West, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc: Increase no more than 40% from December 25 to the 7th day of Tet.
In the 10 days before Tet, the new Eastern Bus Station is expected to serve about 90,000 passengers, a slight increase of 4% compared to the same period last year. The peak period from December 26 to 29 has from 11,000 to 13,000 passengers per day.
After Tet, the bus station is expected to serve about 48,000 passengers, an increase of only 2% over the same period.
However, these numbers have not met expectations compared to the scale of the largest bus station in the country.
With an area of over 16 hectares and the capacity to serve up to 7 million passengers per year, Mien Dong Bus Station has only operated at about 5% capacity since its opening in October 2020.
According to the new Eastern Bus Station, the large difference between design capacity and actual passenger volume comes from three main causes.
“Illegal buses and bus stations” are common on national highways and in central areas, where many vehicles pick up and drop off passengers without going through official bus stations. This directly affects the number of passengers at the new Eastern Bus Station. Some bus companies also organize pick-up and drop-off around the bus station area, even opening offices near the station.
Although the new Mien Dong Bus Station is designed as an important traffic hub of Ho Chi Minh City, the traffic infrastructure connections from the city center and neighboring areas to the station are not complete, causing difficulties for passengers.
Some transport businesses have switched to other inter-provincial bus stations in the city or used contract vehicles, causing the station to lose a significant number of potential transport units, directly affecting the number of passengers.
