Experts have voiced their concerns over Hanoi’s proposals to pilot collecting tolls from vehicles entering the city centre starting 2024, saying that it was unreasonable.
Traffic congestion at a street in Hanoi
Dr Nguyen Xuan Thuy, former director and editor-in-chief of Transport Publishing House said that, “Collecting tolls from vehicles entering central Hanoi areas is unreasonable while public transport has failed to attract local people. Public buses are slow and there is now only one metro line in the city, and up to 90 percent of people in the capital are using private vehicles."
Thuy stressed that it was not fair to charge fees on private vehicles as a way to force people to use poor-quality public transport. This would just cause difficulties for people and affect the socio-economic development of the city.
"We should continue to let people travel free of charge in the city and they will turn to public means of transport when service quality improves," he said. "It is expected that some 40 percent of local people would use public transport services by 2035."
Talking about the proposal, another transport expert, Phan Le Binh said that many people would still have to use their own vehicles even when the tolls were applied because public transport infrastructure is inadequate. Therefore, the toll collecting programme won't help much in reducing congestion.
The expert also pointed out some problems in the pilot plan.
"The pilot programme won't be effective as if we put some toll stations in some certain areas, people will use other roads to enter central areas," he said. "I also think that it's not reasonable to collect fees throughout the day. We can just charge during rush hours."
Earlier the Hanoi Public Transport Management Centre proposed collecting tolls from vehicles entering downtown areas starting 2024, with 15 toll booths on nine high traffic routes.
In a report sent to the Department of Transport, the centre divided the project into three phases. During the first phase which will last until the end of 2025, toll booths would be situated at nine locations on routes with high traffic density leading to the central areas.
During the second phase, from 2026 to 2030, the expanded area where tolls are applicable would include Ring Road 3, Thanh Tri Bridge, Phap Van, Mai Dich, Pham Van Dong, Thang Long Bridge, Au Co, Nghi Tam, Yen Phu, Tran Nhat Duat and Ring Road 3 as boundaries.
During the third phase which starts from 2031, the areas where tolls are required would be expanded to include Nguyen Van Linh, Truong Sa, Hoang Sa, Vo Van Kiet, Thang Long Bridge, Au Co, Nghi Tam, Yen Phu, Tran Nhat Duat and Ring Road 3 as boundaries.
The centre said the tolls collected would be paid by car owners who enter areas vulnerable to congestion during specific time frames. The toll would be VND55,000.
The centre said it would continue to gather opinions from authorities until November 15, before finishing reports to send to the municipal People's Committee for a decision.
Hanoi currently has nearly 8 million vehicles, including over a million cars, and nearly 7 million motorbikes.
