The plan to develop a fixed route network for inter-provincialtransportation with no unscheduled stops and pickup of passengers willincrease travel comfort as well as safety, experts and officials say.

Participantsat a conference held in Da Nang recently also agreed that developingsuch a network would considerably facilitate management of publictransportation, including the licensing of routes and route operators.

Theysaid it would ensure greater transparency and equality, as also nudgeenterprises offering transportation services towards efficientoperations.

According to the Transport Strategy and DevelopmentInstitute under the Ministry of Transport, the country has around 563bus terminals catering to inter-province passenger transportation onfixed routes. Of these, 475 are authorised, and 88 aren't.

Theinstitute also reports that the establishment and management of busstations in many localities has not been well planned, causingdifficulties for residents.

There are too many bus terminals inprovinces like Lam Dong and Nghe An, it reports. While most of the busterminals in big cities are overloaded, over 90 have a lot of idlecapacity. This has happened because licenses for certain routes have notbeen issued based on the terminal's capacity, the institute reported.

Conference participants made several comments on the transport ministry's draft plan.

PhanXuan Vien, Director of Duc Long Bus Station in Da Nang city, suggestedthat localities should be able to set up bus terminals serving aspecific region. He argued that if all terminals served trans-nationalroutes, finding investors would be difficult.

Vo Van Tuoi, DeputyDirector of Thua Thien-Hue Transport Department, said localities withplans to build bus terminals should divide routes among themselves toensure overall efficiency of the network.

Several shortcomings in the plan were also highlighted at the conference.

HoangPhu Hien, Deputy Director of the Nghe An provincial TransportDepartment, said requiring relevant agencies at both departure andarrival points to propose the operation of a route was not reasonable,because localities were not often aware of each other's transportationdevelopment plans.

Deputy Transport Minister Le Dinh Tho said the plan fixed routes could be adjusted if problems rose during implementation.

He said transport departments nationwide should submit their comments and proposals on the draft plan by June 15.

Itis estimated that Vietnam will have around 3,715 fixed inter-provincialpassenger transportation routes by 2020, a 6.2 percent increase overcurrent levels.-VNA