On January 17, Mr. Ngo Hai Duong - Head of Road Transport Management Department (Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport) - said that it is forecasted that during Tet, bus stations in Ho Chi Minh City will serve an average of 93,529 passengers per day, an increase of 6% over the same period last year.
The total number of trips is expected to reach 6,527 per day, up 5% compared to last year. Of which, Mien Tay Bus Station (Binh Tan District) is predicted to have the highest traffic volume, with more than 2,000 trips and 62,000 passengers per day on peak days.
According to Mr. Ngo Hai Duong, the total number of tickets sold at bus stations reached 351,372 tickets, equivalent to nearly 47% of the total number of tickets expected to be issued (754,610 tickets).
At the old Eastern Bus Station (Binh Thanh District), there are currently routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Lak... with 138,130/139,100 tickets sold.
At the new Eastern Bus Station (Thu Duc City), 51,102 out of 90,000 tickets have been sold. However, most of the remaining tickets are seats or fall on off-peak days, so they are not a priority for passengers. In particular, sleeper bus tickets of reputable bus companies are almost sold out, and many routes even have no tickets left.
At Mien Tay Bus Station, the number of tickets sold was nearly 120,000/437,000 tickets; An Suong Bus Station sold more than 28,300/48,700 tickets; Nga Tu Ga Bus Station sold nearly 14,000/40,000 tickets.
Ticket sales are low at these stations because most of the routes are short. People often wait until the last minute to buy tickets.
According to Mr. Ngo Hai Duong, to meet the demand, about 300 vehicles have been arranged to be ready to reinforce at bus stations, to relieve passengers when necessary.
Regarding ticket prices, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport has received 44 dossiers of declaration of fare increase adjustment from 39 units, accounting for about 66% of the number of transport enterprises operating in the city.
According to Mr. Duong, the routes to the Western provinces and Tay Ninh have increased by no more than 40% compared to normal days, while the routes to other provinces have increased by no more than 60%. Ticket prices for Tet this year are assessed to be equivalent to last year, without causing major fluctuations.
