Hanoi bus rapid transit off to slow start
TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 12/30/2016 10:54 GMT + 7
Two dozen BRT buses involved in a loaded test run in Hanoi on Thursday found themselves inching through a sea of motorbikes and cars seemingly oblivious to the lane dividers on the city’s streets.
After several unloaded and technical tests, the Hanoi transport department chose to launch one final test using volunteer passengers before the BRT system’s official launch, scheduled for December 31, 2016.
Twenty-four of the fleet’s 35 buses took part in the morning and late afternoon rush hour test runs between Yen Nghia bus station in the outer district of Ha Dong and Kim Ma station in Dong Da.
The morning and afternoon journeys took 54 and 56 minutes, respectively, falling short of the designed travel time of 45 minutes for the 14.7 km route.
All streets along the Kim Ma-Yen Nghia route are currently divided to provide an exclusive lane for the BRT next to the median, in theory allowing the modern buses to move quickly along the route.
Even with these measures, the buses’ failure to meet the designed schedule is no surprise.
Throughout the course of the projects, heavy doubts have circulated that poor Vietnamese driving habits will amend themselves and drivers will avoid crossing into the restricted lanes.
These doubts were confirmed during Thursday’s test run, when BRT buses were besieged by motorbikes and cars during the after-work rush hour, as if the BRT lane divider was nonexistent.
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