HCMC – The HCMC government has allowed the municipal Department of Transport to develop 11 domestic wharves to serve the public waterway transport, according to an announcement released by the office of the municipal government on September 28.
Six of the total 11 wharves set up to serve the river bus route No. 1 include Binh An and Thao Dien in District 2, Tam Vu and Thanh Da in Binh Thanh District and Hiep Binh Chanh and Linh Dong in Thu Duc District.
The remaining five wharves scheduled to serve the waterway bus route No. 2 comprise Chu Y Bridge in District 5, Binh Tay and Lo Gom in District 6 and Binh Dong and Long Hoa Pagoda in District 8.
The municipal department is continuing to decide on the locations and areas for and legalization of seven other wharves, with two wharves serving the city’s first water bus route, which connects Bach Dang Wharf in District 1 with Linh Dong Ward in Thu Duc District, including Saigon Pearl in Binh Thanh District and Binh Trieu in Thu Duc District.
The five others serving the second river bus route (Bach Dang-Lo Gom) consist of Nguyen Thai Binh and Calmetter in District 1, Hoa Binh Market and Nguyen Tri Phuong in District 5 and Khanh Hoi in District 4.
The municipal government has also approved a plan allowing the department to propose new locations to replace the old wharves, widen the area of the existing wharves and develop them into stops with various services and riverside tourist sites. Besides, the HCMC Department of Transport was told to add the central wharf of the river bus route No. 2 in District 4 to replace the reduced part of the area of Nguyen Tri Phuong wharf affected by the branch of the Nguyen Tri Phuong Bridge.
In November 2017, the city put the first waterway bus route into operation. After some three years of its operation, the first route serves some 900 passengers a day on average, far below the city’s expectation of easing the pressure on roads.
Meanwhile, the second river bus route in HCMC, linking Bach Dang Wharf in District 1 and Lo Gom Port in District 6, is on hold and is awaiting the completion of the construction of the Ben Nghe tide control gate. The second bus route is set to be put into operation in late 2020.
By Le Anh
