Holidaymakers get back to HCMC, causing traffic overloading

Coaches plying from the central region to HCMC have been packed with passengers as they have started streaming back to the city after returning home to celebrate Tet holidays, according to Sai Gon Giai Phong Newspaper reporters’ record.
Passengers in a coach from Ninh Thuan to HCMC (Photo: SGGP)
Passengers in a coach from Ninh Thuan to HCMC (Photo: SGGP)
Transport firms such as Phuong Trang, Thanh Buoi and Hoang Anh from Ninh Thuan province and Cuc Tung from Khanh Hoa have run out of tickets to HCMC.
Lot of people have been forced to catch coaches along streets and accepted to be stuffed in aisles. Suoi Cat roundabout in Phan Thiet city of Binh Thuan province is a familiar spot of locals who want to catch buses to travel south. At noon on the fourth and fifth day of the new lunar year, they were found waiting there. Many coaches traveled across the spot but did not stop because there was no room to receive more. Looking inside the coaches, SGGP reporters saw no empty seats and passengers sat right on aisles.
Entering a coach of Hoang Anh company, a SGGP reporter was announced ticket fare of VND250,000 a person without any bargain to have a seat in the aisle where up to 10 people were sitting on.
The coach’s badge says it plies on the fix route from Mien Dong coach station to Phan Rang city, still the vehicle continuously picked up and dropped off passengers along streets. The final point for passengers to get off was not in the coach station but Cao Thang street in District 10.
Deputy director general of Mien Dong coach station Nguyen Hoang Huy said that many coaches have not entered the station and picked up passengers along streets to avoid taxes. Once spotting such cases, the station will inform the management agency to revoke their badges and stop contract with them. The HCMC Department of Transport has handled over 200 violating cases this Tet holiday.
Traffic overloading has also occurred in routes to spiritual tourist destinations such as Ba Chua Xu (the Holy Mother of the Realm) pagoda in An Giang province, Ba Den mountain pagoda in Tay Ninh province and Ba Thien Hau (Lady Thien Hau) pagoda in Binh Duong.
Traffic police forces in Thanh Hoa province spotted Coach 15B-037.26 carrying up to 54 passengers while its capacity is only 36 passengers. Another with plate no. 18B-001.25 transported up to 62 people while the permissible number is 40 from Nam Dinh to Nghe An province.
Transport firms from Hue to southern and Central Highlands provinces have increased fare by 20-40 percent over normal while some have lifted it up to 60 percent.
Roads to provinces with well-known pagodas namely Tay Ninh, An Giang and Binh Duong have been overloaded with pagoda visitor skyrocketing in the beginning of the year.
Hue Nghia, Hung Cuong and Phuong Trang transport firms have run out of tickets from now until the 10th day of the new lunar year.
Driver Do Van Hoang from Tan Binh district said that the way to Ba Den pagoda in Tay Ninh province was crowded with long queues of people waiting to buy cable car tickets to reach the pagoda.
On February 9, traffic congestion occurred in automobile lanes at Vam Cong ferry connecting Dong Thap and An Giang province. Similar condition was also seen in Tan Chau and Chau Giang ferries in An Giang provinces.
In the northern region, long lasting traffic jam continued recurring in entrance gateways to Hanoi and tourist sites such as Huong (Perfume) pagoda in Hanoi, Tam Dao in Vinh Phuc, Sa Pa in Lao Cai and Ba Vang pagoda in Quang Ninh because of huge number of passengers and visitors.

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