Hanoi and HCMC governments are speeding up plans to limit motorbike traffic in inner-city areas and phase them out in the downtown area of the two cities to ease traffic jams.

Road users are stuck in a heavy traffic jam in HCMC. Hanoi and HCMC governments look to gradually reduce motorbike traffic, and eventually ban motorbikes from central districts by 2030.

Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper cited a representative from the center for scientific research and training, under the Hanoi Department of Transport, as saying that the department would work out solutions in 2019 to curb the number of motorcycles entering inner-city areas.

Under the center’s proposal, before terminating motorbike traffic, the Hanoi government will restrict driving zones for motorbike operation. Selected areas are required to have appropriate infrastructure and meet standards and requirements for public transportation services.

The Transport Development and Strategy Institute, under the Ministry of Transport, also noted that due to differences in the capabilities of the public transportation system in various districts, the department should initially select restriction areas so that Hanoi City can apply an outright motorbike ban by 2030.

The limitation on motorcycles is aimed at easing traffic congestion, reducing economic damage, saving travel time and cost for residents and minimizing environmental pollution. Further, the move is expected to reduce the number of traffic accidents, contribute to the city’s sustainable development and improve residents’ quality of life.

Meanwhile, HCMC is also deploying a plan to enhance the transit system in collaboration with taking control over private vehicles, assigning the HCMC Department of Transport to review traffic projects and update information on these projects, particularly for bridges, roads and ports.

The city’s plan also includes zoning restriction areas for motorbike traffic, targeting a complete ban on motorcycles in central business districts, such as 1, 3, 5 and 10, in the 2025-2030 period.

In particular, from now until 2020, motorcycles will be restricted during rush hours on high-traffic routes, including Truong Son in Tan Binh District and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai in District 1, while two other streets in Pasteur and Nam Ky Khoi Nghia will be closed to motorcycles during the daytime, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Between 2021 and 2025, more stringent motorcycle restrictions will apply across District 1 before a complete ban applies in 2030.

Transport expert Nguyen Xuan Thuy, however, said that the plan to ban motorbikes from entering the downtown area was inappropriate, saying that the country alone has some 45 million motorcycles and four million automobiles. Although the number of motorbikes is 10 times larger than that of cars, one motorbike accounts for one-fifth to one-tenth of the road surface area used by one car.

As such, motorbikes are not the main reason behind traffic congestion in major cities such as Hanoi and HCMC, Thuy stressed, explaining that automobiles are crowding the roads and covering most of the road surface area. Therefore, motorbike traffic should not be stopped, Thuy added.

In addition, an economic expert said that the ban on motorbike traffic should be weighed carefully as no transport means can replace motorcycles, which are also considered the main means of transport in Vietnam for business activities such as goods transportation.

SGT