Some of Da Nang’s key leaders recently played host to Mr Osamu Nagata who is the General Secretary of Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) cum Executive Vice President of the Toyota Motor Corporation.

Secretary Anh (right) and Mr Nagata

Municipal Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Xuan Anh sincerely thanked TMF for granting about 2.9 million USD to fund the ongoing ‘Improving Da Nang Urban Traffic Corridor’ project. 

This project is being implemented between July 2015 and March 2019 with a focus on developing public bus services in some local urban areas, creating a public parking system, and providing more equipment for local bus-stops.  In addition, shuttle bus services which connect local residential areas with some of the city’s busy public places are being created.

The city leader noted that, in the years ahead, the city is expected to see an increasing number of personal vehicles which might cause traffic congestion in the inner city.  He also said that he would like TMF to continue helping his city implement more ‘smart’ traffic infrastructure development programmes, and he hoped that more Japanese businesses, especially Toyota Motor Corporation, would invest into the city in future years.

Municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman cum Head of the Department of Publicity and Training Dang Viet Dung hoped that TMF would assist Da Nang in building a synchronous public transportation system.  Importance should be attached to developing a hi-quality bus network, establishing information systems at local bus-stops, raising public awareness of traffic safety, reducing traffic congestion at some hot spots, and developing new transport modes using clean and environmentally-friendly energy resources.

In reply, Mr Nagata remarked that Da Nang boasts many great potentials for traffic infrastructure development in which TMF, and the Toyota Motor Corporation as a whole, show great interest.

He affirmed that it is a pleasure for TMF to fund the ‘Improving Da Nang Urban Traffic Corridor’ project, especially when Da Nang is set to host the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in November.

The TMF-funded buses (Photo: laodong.com.vn)

During his stay in Da Nang, Mr Nagata, along with representatives from the city authorities, attended a ceremony to launch a new Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF)-funded intra-city bus route in the city on a trial basis for 1 year, and a ‘Smart Parking’ mobile app for car drivers.  These new services are part of the ‘Improving Da Nang Urban Traffic Corridor’ project. 

Detailed information about these services is displayed here: http://baodanang.vn/english/business/201706/free-bus-route-and-smart-parking-app-operational-from-tomorrow-2560118/. There are a total of 8 TMF-funded buses operating in the city.

Mr Nagata hoped that the introduction of the TMF-funded bus route would help to improve the quality of the local public transport network, and that the model would prove ever more popular in Viet Nam, and the South East Asia region as a whole.  In particular, he also pledged that TMF would maintain support for the duration of the pilot operation of the bus route. 

Hopefully, along with the existing intra-city bus routes, the TMF-funded bus route will encourage more local residents to use public transport services rather than their personal vehicles, with the aim of easing traffic congestion.