Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has announced five measures to be introduced to limit the use of personal vehicles in an effort to ease congestion and improve traffic order and safety. This year has been set forth by the Government as “the Year of Traffic Safety.”

A traffic jam during rush hour in HCMC, Photo: Tuoi Tre

The first measure requires that the Transport Department and other concerned agencies must study a new management model using Certificate of Eligibility (COE) to control vehicles to be registered for use in the city. Based on the study, the city authorities will ask permission from the Government to pilot the management model in HCMC.

The second states that relevant agencies must make a plan to raise all fees related to registration, circulation and number plates of personal vehicles.

According to the third, agencies concerned must report the results of the study on collecting fees from cars that enter the city’s downtown. The study’s report is a basis for developing further steps.

The fourth measure bans some kinds of vehicles, for example taxis or 30-plus-seat vehicles. These must be driven on certain streets during certain hours.

Lastly, the department will collect and review all feasible plans for the project to limit the use of personal vehicles and coordinate with the Transport Ministry to implement the project.

In another effort to strengthen traffic order and safety, the city authorities said they would review all licenses that have been granted to users of roadsides and roadways and would revoke those no longer found appropriate.

According to the Transport Department, 994 traffic accidents occurred in the city last year, killing 842 people and injuring 461 others.

At rush hour, motorbikes account for more than 93 percent of the total number of vehicles traveling in the city (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Motorbike overloading

According to a report from the Transport Department, the city now has 10 million residents, including immigrants and visitors, more than 5 million motorbikes and about 500,000 cars. Meanwhile, the city has only 26 million square meters of road, which cannot accommodate such a large number of vehicles.

At a seminar held last October to discuss a study on the use of personal vehicles in HCMC, Dr. Pham Xuan Mai from the HCMC Polytechnics University, said that for safety reasons, a motorbike needs 10 square meters of road and a 4-seat car, 30 square meters. As it stands, such needs exceeded the total area of surface of 3,600 streets in the city. 

At rush hour, motorbikes account for more than 93 percent of the total number of vehicles traveling in the city, causing congestion in many areas, Mai said.

He said it is necessary to cut the current number of motorbikes used in traffic by more than 50 percent and encourage residents to use buses. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Du Phuoc Tan, the study’s lead researcher, said buses in HCMC now only have access to 1,000 out of the city’s total 3,600 km of roads. As a result, local residents have no choice but to use their own vehicles to travel on routes that don’t have buses, Tan said.

“However, because the city’s number of motorbikes is forecast to increase to 7.5 million from the current 5 million in the near future, if we wait for an expansion of the bus fleets and their routes before restricting the use of personal vehicles, it would be too late.”

Meanwhile, Le Trung Tinh from the HCMC Department of Transport suggested an “environmental fee” -- VND60,000 (US$2.9) per month for a motorbike and VND300,000 per month for a cars -- should be imposed on motorbike users to discourage them.

Source: Tuoitrenews