The progress of a project to develop a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Da Nang should be accelerated in order to uphold the vital role of local public transport services in reducing traffic congestion in the busy urban areas.

A BRT system operating in a another country (Photo: http://thuvienxaydung.net)

This statement was released by the Head of the Management Board of the Da Nang Priority Infrastructure Investment Projects, Mr Luong Thach Vy, at a meeting on Thursday with representatives from the Board of Urban Affairs of the municipal People’s Council. 

Mr Vy remarked that a modern and convenient public transport system has yet to be developed in the city.  Currently, there are many intra-city bus routes, and inter-provincial ones linking Da Nang with Hoi An and the districts of Duy Xuyen, Que Son, Dai Loc and Tam Ky in Quang Nam Province.  The quality of these existing services, however, has not satisfied the increasing travel demands of local residents and visitors.  Mr Vy, therefore, highlighted the importance of putting the BRT system into use as soon as possible.

The BRT system will run one main BRT route and 2 sub-routes, and they will operate daily from 5.00am to 9.00pm. 

In detail, the 24.76km main route will run from the internal street No 5 in Hoa Khanh Industrial Park to Tran Dai Nghia Street.  The first 35.4km sub-route, R1, will link the Da Nang International Airport to Hoi An’s Le Hong Phong Street, and the second 26.7km sub-route, R3, will connect the airport with the Ba Na Hills Resort.

The BRT system will operate 66 high-quality buses that meet the Euro 4 and 5 emission standards.  Of these, 36 buses will run on the main route, whilst 17 and 13 buses will operate on routes R1 and R3 respectively.

The over 70 million USD BRT system is part of an ongoing project aimed at ensuring the city’s sustainable development.  So far, the detailed design of the BRT system has been completed.  Work is now progressing well on developing the technical infrastructure for the BRT route, constructing bus maintenance stations, bus stops, transit areas, and a road tunnel at the intersections of Nguyen Tri Phuong and Dien Bien Phu.

The first BRT route is scheduled to be put into operation in early 2018.

Municipal People’s Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Tho recently approved a programme which will allow locals and visitors to access conventional bus transport free-of-charge on 5 intra-city routes within 30 days after the official launch date of the programme.

The routes are Nguyen Tat Thanh - Hoang Dieu, Xuan Dieu - Metro - Pham Hung, Tho Quang - Pham Hung, Xuan Dieu - Lotte Mart, and Tho Quang - the airport - Truong Sa.