River bus has recently become a popular means of transportation in HCMC. Many tourists choose the river bus for sightseeing and visiting tourist attractions in the southern metropolis. The number of visitors has sharply increased leading to a scarcity of tickets, especially on Saturdays and Sundays. Passengers face difficulty in purchasing waterbus tickets at the station because travelers mostly have already booked tickets online in advance.
Teacher Le Van Biec from Cao Thang Technical College in District 1 said that he went to Hiep Binh Chanh Waterbus station in Thu Duc City on Sunday, February 26, to buy a ticket to travel to Bach Dang station in District 1. However, there were no more tickets.
The staff at the river bus stations said that tickets for Sunday had been sold out three days ago. Most passengers traveling by Waterbus proactively booked tickets online. Therefore, many passengers who directly buy tickets at the stations couldn’t find any tickets because there were no seats available.
Passengers who couldn't buy tickets are people taking the service for the first time or travelers from provinces and cities visiting HCMC, they added.
Not only at Hiep Binh Chanh station but also seat reservations at Linh Dong and An Binh stations in Thu Duc City, Thanh Da station in Binh Thanh District, and Bach Dang station in District 1 are sold out.
According to Mr. Nguyen Kim Toan, director of Thuong Nhat Co Ltd operating Saigon Waterbus and Saigon Watergo, the average daily number of river passengers is around 3,500 per day and reaches 5,000 - 6,000 visitors on the weekend. Passengers face difficulty in purchasing waterbus tickets for some specific trips and at certain times. It is not often.
The company has implemented many programs and services to improve capacity, increase the number of trips, and extend the time to 10:30 pm to reduce the passenger overload on the weekend. In addition, the double-decker water bus operating along the Saigon River was also launched last December attracting many visitors. The boat named Saigon WaterGo allows passengers to enjoy panoramic views of the southern metropolis.
