The Ha Noi Transport Service Corporation (Transerco) has fired 185 bus drivers and conductors after undercover inspection teams witnessed first-hand poor treatment of customers.

This was an unprecedented move to improve service quality, said Nguyen Trong Thong, Transercos deputy general director.

Transerco, the only bus company in the city, has 60 routes in Ha Noi and has served more than 280 million passengers since the beginning of the year.

Inspection teams anonymously boarded busses and through personal observation and picture documentation on their mobile phones uncovered a range of violations. In addition to firing drivers and conductors, Transerco has reprimanded 1,560 employees and made them compensate passengers, as well as warning 95 others.

Driver violations run the gamut from verbally abusing passengers to moving the bus while passengers are still getting on and off. Bus conductors have even been known to take money from customers without giving them a ticket.

In addition, officials are increasingly hearing reports of buses ignoring traffic laws, stopping abruptly in traffic, cutting-off other motorists and causing traffic accidents, as well as ignoring some bus stops. Poor customer service and traffic issues have become a blight on an important public service.

“Many buses blocked me suddenly when I drove on the road. Some times, I fell. Only thinking of travelling by bus makes me scared,” said Nguyen Thu Trang on Vuong Thua Vu Street.

“Bus drivers must obey traffic laws and regulations and behave in a gentle manner with passengers,” said Thong. “Positive images can help encourage more people to use buses.

“If we want bus services to exist and develop in a competitive market against other transport services, they need to be improved. Passengers are reluctant to use our services partially because of some impolite bus drivers and conductors,” said Thong. “It will be much better if the bus drivers obey laws and respect passengers lives. More people including me would voluntarily use bus services,” said Trang.

Besides making regular inspections and strictly punishing bus drivers and conductors in violation of rules, Transerco also holds training programmes for employees on road safety and manners to serve passengers.

“Bus transportation is a service like others, so the passengers need to be enjoying comfortable conditions. Therefore, as a bus driver, I always obey the traffic laws and serve the passengers in the most gentle way,” said 48-year-old Thieu Ngoc Duong from Dong Da District.

“However, I am willing to take part in more training courses to improve my skills,” said Duong.

The Ha Noi Department of Transport is planning to use express buses on main routes, which will load passengers from starting stations and only stop in one or two stations to solve overcrowding on buses in rush hour, according to Nguyen Hoang Linh, the departments deputy director.

Starting November 12, there would be 24-30 non-stop expresses on the Ha Noi-Ha Dong route, said Linh.