HCMCity (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City has announced measures to ease trafficcongestion, which has worsened recently, during the upcoming festival season.
BuiXuan Cuong, director of the Department of Transport, told a meeting last weekthat the congestion will remain bad from now until the Lunar New Year.
But40 key infrastructure works related to public transport, reduction of privatevehicles and increase in the use of IT in transport management will be finishedsoon.
Thiswill clear the roads where the work is going on and is expected to make trafficflows more efficient and smoother.
Thedepartment also called on the traffic police to regulate traffic during peakhours and increase fines for violators.
“Encroachmentof pavements and roads by small businesses is one of the most important causesof gridlock,” Nguyen Ngoc Tuong, deputy head of the city’s Traffic SafetyCommittee, said.
Hesaid that in 2012 the chairpersons of all 24 districts signed a commitment toclear businesses on 159 streets, “but it has not been done so far.”
Hesaid the city should hold the local authorities responsible.
LeVan Khoa, Deputy Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, instructed theTraffic Safety Committee to monitor all 159 streets and said local authoritieshave to play a part in unclogging the city’s streets.
TheChairman of the Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong instructed the Department ofInformation and Telecommunications to provide information about blocked roadsat 37 hot spots to the public through mobile phone text messages and to relatedauthorities, especially the traffic police and transport department so thatthey can send officers to the spot.
“Unlicensedbuses and illegal bus stops must be eliminated. All traffic violations will bepunished severely.”
Meanwhile,VietUnion announced recently it would sell train and bus ticket online throughan application called Paytouch.
Touse Paytouch, computers will first be installed in 20 Circle K and B’Smartconvenience stores around the city before Lunar New Year at the end of January2017.
Peoplecan buy tickets using electronic wallets, cards or cash.
Theservice will later be expanded to 300 Circle K and B’Smart stores as well asothers like FPT shop, Vien Thong A, The gioi di dong (Mobile World), Vinmart,and Ministop.
Thisis expected to reduce the crowds at train and bus ticket counters before Tet./.
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Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) 
