Le Trung Tinh, head of transportation management at the department, said at a seminar on Wednesday that the plan to gradually switch to using gas-fueled commuter buses would help the city cope with worsening air pollution and lower bus operating cost by 30%.
The new environmentally friendly buses will ply the busy Saigon-Binh Tay route connecting the downtown area in District 1 and the major Binh Tay Market in District 5.
Since last year, the city has been test-running two CNG-powered buses, with one on the route between the Tan Huong Market in Tan Phu District and Suoi Tien Park in District 9 and the other on the route between the Mien Tay Coach Station in District 6 and Thu Duc farm produce wholesale market in Thu Duc District.
This pilot scheme is reported to have brought benefits for bus operators and contributed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Energy experts said CNG is technically a very light gas, mostly methane, which is not very flammable and completely safe for buses and that CNG-fueled buses emit 80% less greenhouse gases than diesel buses.
Tinh said on Wednesday’s seminar on energy saving in transportation that the potential for the transport sector to cut down on energy consumption ranged from 25% to 30%. So the city expects to have at least 50 gas-fueled buses on its main streets in the coming years.
The city is struggling with the rising pollution due to increasingly heavy vehicular traffic. Statistics show the city currently has nearly five million motorcycles and around 500,000 automobiles.
If a car reduced gasoline consumption by one liter and a motorcycle 0.25 liter a day, the city’s daily fuel cost would fall by at least VND26 billion, said Tinh.
The Ministry of Transport is preparing standards and regulations on energy saving applicable to all means of transportation such as car, ship, airplane and train. It is also working on a program to encourage motorists to help cut petrol consumption.
Source: SGT |