Severe congestion in Hanoi
According to Hanoi authorities, the current road network can't accommodate more vehicles.
At a meeting on July 4, Hanoi People's Council deputies said the plan was necessary as 70% of the road accidents involve motorbikes and drivers' awareness was low. There are also opinions that the plan should have been proposed sooner as Hanoi is losing half a billion of USD because of congestion. The authorities have suggested exempting bus fares to encourage people to use more public transport.
The Hanoi People's Council's deputy Nguyen Thanh Binh agreed that public transport will be key and needed more investment. "If we only focus on buses then by 2030, we'll only meet 21% of public demand. We must invest more in other types of public transport like the metro lines," he said.
Meanwhile, deputy Hoang Huy Duoc highlighted the lax management over high-rise buildings which was entirely absent from the plan. Too many apartment buildings are being built everywhere in the city, putting huge pressure on the weak infrastructure, he argued.
Other deputies recommended upgrading and using more technology in regulating traffic. They claimed this would mean they would not have to maintain such a traffic police force.
Vu Van Vien, director of the Department of Transport said they would gather all opinions and report back to the council.
There are measures and proposals in the plan that are the responsibility of government ministries, not the local authorities. Vien said they could immediately implement measures under the jurisdiction of the city authorities such as more investments for public transport. From now on to 2030, Hanoi is expected to invest USD31bn into ten more urban metro lines.
According to the plan, the authorities would completely ban motorbike in the city centre in 2030 by which point they claim there would be access to some form of public transport every half kilometre. People living in apartment blocks far from main routes are supposed to be encouraged to use bicycles, low-cost taxis or walk.
"If the residents in Van Chuong Ward, Dong Da District, need to go to Yen Nghia Bus Station which is 14km away, they need to pay only VND14,000 (62 US cents) taxi and bus fares to get there. It's acceptable," Vien said.
Over 91% of the deputies approved of the plan.