Inadequacies in the management of public passenger transport

(Baonghean) Currently, the field of passenger transport management in our province still has many shortcomings.

First of all, about stopping to pick up and drop off passengers at the station. According to Circular No. 14/2010 of the Ministry of Transport, from 2010, except for buses, all passenger transport vehicles must enter the station when picking up and dropping off passengers. The purpose of the above regulation is to make passenger transport activities safe, orderly and civilized. Passenger vehicles running on fixed routes from the place where they pick up passengers arbitrarily, without being forced to enter the station, now must have an order to leave the station.

However, because passengers have the habit of catching buses along the road and the arrangement of bus stations is not reasonable, even though there are regulations, the number of passengers entering the bus station has not increased much. But whether entering the station or not, the bus company still has to pay the bus station fee every day. Some bus owners said: A few years ago at the beginning of the year, bus companies and transport cooperatives signed contracts with the Bus Station Joint Stock Company to make 26 trips per month (4 days of vehicle maintenance).

However, because the Terminal Management Board collects fees on a contract basis, the next day the fee is collected the day before or every few days, and there is no strict monitoring of whether the vehicle actually enters the terminal or not. The regulation is to collect 26 trips per month, even 30 trips/month (if the vehicle is off for repairs or on a contract, documents must be submitted to the Terminal Management Board to prove it). 16-seat vehicles alone must pay 40-45 trips/month, equivalent to 2 to 2.2 million VND/month, one and a half times higher than other types of vehicles, so the purpose of stopping to pick up and drop off passengers in the terminal has almost not been realized.

Explaining this, Mr. Vo Xuan Thanh, Deputy General Director of Nghe An Bus Station Joint Stock Company, said: It is not the Company that requires it, but the Company collects it based on the regulations on stopping to pick up and drop off passengers at the station. According to the regulations, vehicle owners must enter the station 60 times and must pay a fee of 60 times/month, but to ensure the harmony of interests of the bus operators, the Company has set a general rate of 45 times/month. This has been shown in the annual contract signed between the Passenger Transport Cooperative and the Bus Station Joint Stock Company. Most of the bus operators have complied with the full payment and have not questioned or complained.

Learning more, we learned that although there are regulations for picking up and dropping off passengers at the station, in reality, there are car owners who make two trips a day but only go to the station once to deal with it (get a departure order), and many cars do not even go to the station at all, as long as they pay enough money to the Station Management Board every week or every month to get a departure order, while they mainly pick up passengers along the way or pick them up at private homes.

Besides the bus companies that pay the terminal fee to get the departure order, in reality, some bus companies find ways to avoid the terminal fee, sometimes reporting that they are off for repairs, sometimes they are off for personal reasons (in reality, they are running on contract), so the Company must set the fee at 26 trips/month or 45 trips/month as above. If you are off contract, off due to illness or vehicle repair, you must have a contract or repair invoice to prove it (the passenger vehicle must be repaired at a qualified unit) to get the discount.

Mr. Dinh Van Nam, Head of the Department of Transport and Driver Vehicle Management, Department of Transport, said: The Bus Station Joint Stock Company's determination of an average fee of 26 trips/month for passenger cars and 45 trips/month for 16-seat cars is a solution that balances the interests of both parties, so it is basically suitable and has been agreed to be implemented by the majority of businesses, transport cooperatives and car owners.

Through discussion, it is known that in the field of public passenger transport management, according to regulations, bus companies that stop running on fixed routes to contract passenger transport must report to the Department of Transport for licensing and control, but in reality, in the past, many private bus companies did not comply.

Therefore, in order to effectively manage means of transport, in the coming time, along with increasing dialogue to propagate to vehicle owners and car owners to understand the provisions of the law on transport, fully pay parking fees, it is necessary to urgently plan, construct and arrange parking lots reasonably for people to travel conveniently. Along with that, the province needs to have a priority policy to encourage investment in developing public transport to serve the travel needs of the people; strengthen management and supervision so that vehicles comply with regulations on ensuring safety when circulating.

Nguyen Hai