More drastic measures should be taken in order to restrain the use of private vehicles and improve infrastructure so as to mitigate traffic congestion and accidents in HCM City, the municipal Department of Transport affirmed.
Restraining the use of private vehicles expected to mitigate traffic jams
According to the department, the city recorded 994 traffic accidents, leaving 842 dead and 461 injured in 2011.
The city also incurred 32 traffic jams that lasted for at least 30 minutes during the year.
The situation is attributed to the lack of inspection forces that are responsible for traffic oversight, the department noted.
Le Toan, the department’s deputy director, said with a current population of 10 million people, the city has recorded a sharp rise in new vehicles in recent years.
Last year, nearly 640,000 new vehicles were registered, bringing the total number of vehicles in the city to approx 5.6 million, including 500,000 cars.
“Everyday, roads in the city receive an additional one million of motorbikes and 60,000 cars coming from surrounding areas,” he shared.
The city currently has only 3,600 roads with a total area of only 26 million square metres and still has 114 traffic congestion hotspots.
Drastic measures proposed
In order to improve the situation, more long-term measures must be applied in order to upgrade traffic infrastructure, in addition to the development of satellite urban areas to ease population density in the city centre, as well as the relocation of seaports, universities and major hospitals to the outskirts.
HCM City has recorded a sharp rise in new vehicles in recent years
Initially, priority should be given to realising two vital methods of restraining personal vehicles and upgrading traffic infrastructure.
Le Toan has proposed the municipal government approve a plan to levy a city centre congestion charge in the near future.
He also called for plans to arrange capital to facilitate the upgrade of vital traffic infrastructure within 2012.
As part of efforts to ease traffic jams in the city, the department is also seeking approval from the municipal government to increase registration fees for passenger cars with less than 10 seats to 20% beginning from July 1, 2012, from a current 15%.
Concerning the hike in car registration fees, Duong Van Nhan, a deputy of the municipal People’s Council, disagreed, saying that the council was unlikely to approve the proposal as it has just given a nod to increasing the fees to 15% beginning from January 1, 2012 from an earlier 10%.
He assessed that increase in car registration fees was not an optimal measure to minimise new vehicle registrations.
Deputy Nguyen Hong Ha has urged careful study of the planned congestion charge, along with preparing alternative means of transport to facilitate commuting, with a particular focus on improving the quality of public bus services.