The investment capital for the purchase of 21 new clean-fuel buses, worth about VND 50 billion, was lent by the Ho Chi Minh City Finance and Investment State-Owned Company under a preferential loan from the State budget.
Currently, the CNG refueling stations for these 21 buses are located at the logistics yard of Saigon Passenger Transport Company on Pho Quang Street and another station on Nguyen Huu Canh Street (Binh Thanh). The CNG is supplied by PetroVietnam Southern Gas Trading Joint Stock Company.
Since mid-2010, Ho Chi Minh City has piloted two CNG buses on the route from Mien Tay Bus Station to the dormitory of Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City. Initial results show that CNG buses partly help reduce environmental pollution and save about 30% of fuel compared to diesel buses. Specifically, a diesel bus running 100 km costs about VND 500,000, while a CNG bus costs about VND 340,000.
Mr. Phung Dang Hai, General Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Transport Cooperative Union, said that the unit had just received a document from the Department of Finance rejecting the request for support for clean-fuel buses (CNG buses), which the Union planned to invest in to replace 29 old buses in 2011.
Accordingly, the reason given by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance is that the Union’s proposal to receive a subsidy level for CNG buses equivalent to that for diesel buses is inappropriate. This is because the operational features and fuel consumption norms of CNG buses differ from those of diesel buses, which would lead to different subsidy rates.
(Saigon Giai Phong 29/7, Environment and Urban section, Author: D. Ly; Quan Doi Nhan Dan 30/7, p.8; Lao Dong 01/08, p.3)
