Expert proposes imposing gradual ban on cars to curb
congestion in Vietnamese cities
Heavy congestion is
seen on Tran Quoc Hoan Street in Ho Chi Minh City at rush hour.
As the ongoing debate on a possible motorbike ban in Vietnamese cities picks up
momentum, a traffic expert has weighed in with his assertion that cars are
contributing more to the problem than motorbikes.
On Monday
last week, Hanoi’s Department of Transport unveiled itsplan to restrict non-resident motorbikes
from entering the capital by 2025, sparking a debate on whether or not
banning motorbikes would ease Vietnamese cities’ chronic traffic congestion.
One of the
first to offer their views on the issue was Luong Hoai Nam, economic expert
and former CEO at Vietnam-based low-cost airline Jetstar Pacific, who vocally supported the ban in an interview withTuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper published last
Thursday.
According to
traffic expert Lam Thieu Quan, two-thirds of the road surface in major cities
where traffic congestion is widespread are occupied by cars, while motorbikes
only take up a third.
Therefore,
Quan said, a ban on private motorbikes would not necessarily ease congestion,
while it would likely pose a challenge for a large population of low-income
families who are using bikes in their daily commute.
The expert
asserted that buses in Vietnam are being “surrounded” by not only motorbikes
but also cars, the number of which has seen a rapid growth rate in recent
years.
He suggested
a gradual ban on private cars, beginning with restrictions at rush hour while
opening up priority lanes for buses on city roads.
Buses in
Vietnam are not officially categorized as prioritized vehicles, and therefore
are often blamed for their chronic unpunctuality in the rush hour.
According to
Quan, punctual buses would convince commuters to give up their private
motorbikes, making it easier to impose restrictions and bans on the vehicles.
The
restriction on cars should also be coupled with financial measures such as
charging cars entering the city center during high-traffic hours, and the
collected money should be reinvested in developing public transport instead
of being remitted to the government budget, the expert suggested.
He also
pointed out the obsolescence of Ho Chi Minh City’s public transport planning
until 2025, which was drafted in 2009 using outdated data but was only
submitted for feedback to the municipal Fatherland Front a few months ago.
TUOI TRE NEWS
|
Thứ Tư, 28 tháng 9, 2016
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