HCM City (VNA)- Transport departments from HCM City and southern provinces have starteda campaign to better control unauthorised buses, coaches and bus terminals.

They will also punish theowners of buses that stop in unauthorised places.

Many illegal bus stopovershave been reported on National Highway No 1A near Binh Phuoc crossroads and nearpetrol stations in Thanh Binh and Hue Thien communes in Thu Duc district.

In the evenings, many busespick up passengers and load or unload cargo at bus stopovers illegally set upat Dien Bien Phu Street near Van Thanh Bridge in HCM City’s Binh Thanh district.

Illegal bus stopovers arealso common on National Highway No 51 in Dong Nai province and on NationalHighway No 13 in Binh Duong province.

A new inspection campaignis being conducted at bus stopovers and terminals between February 5 and March2. Violators will be seriously punished, a spokesman from the InspectionDivision of the HCM City’s transport department said.

Tran Quoc Khanh, chiefinspector of the department, said inspections would be conducted regularly onNational Highway No 13,  No 22, and No 1A (the stretch from Binh PhuocBridge in Thu Duc District to Suoi Tien Tourist Park in District 9), on Dien BienPhu Street in Binh Thanh District, and at the Western and Eastern BusTerminals.

Transport inspectors willseriously punish violators, especially for illegal pickup of passengers.

The Departmentof Transport in Dong Nai province has urged agencies to punish illegal busand coach services and those using unauthorised bus stopovers and terminals.

Dong Nai traffic policeforce will conduct patrols and punish violators for exceeding the speed limit,overloading, travelling in the wrong lane, and illegally outrunning othervehicles.

Nguyen Do Vu, chiefinspector from Binh Duong province’s Department of Transport, said thedepartment had plans to put unlicensed bus and coach services under controlduring the Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays.-VNA