HCMC – Since the launch early last week of electronic toll collection (ETC) on the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway, the number of vehicles using the Cat Lai ferry terminal, which links HCMC with neighboring Dong Nai Province, soared 60% to around 4,000 units per day, causing traffic congestion at the terminal.

Nguyen Thanh Tuan of the Youth Volunteer Public Service Company, which operates the Cat Lai ferry terminal, said many of the vehicles that had passed through the ferry terminal did not have e-tags for automatically paying an expressway toll fee. The company operates seven ferries, including three 100-ton ferries, two 200-ton ferries, and two 60-ton ferries. As shared by Tuan, the average number of vehicles using the ferry service reached 52,000 per day in July, shooting up further to 70,000 on weekends and 80,000 on holidays. To cope with the issue, the HCMC Department of Transport has requested the ferry terminal operator to check the technical safety conditions, regulate the traffic flow, and increase the number of staff at the terminal. The operator was also told to cooperate with waterway passenger transport businesses to build new ferries and rent others to increase the capacity.