The Hanoi Department of Transport has considered collecting tolls for private vehicles travelling into the inner-city areas which often face traffic jams.

Traffic jam in Hanoi

Director of the department Vu Van Vien said that this may be among measures to restrict the operation of private vehicles in Hanoi’s inner-city districts.

Statistics showed that up to 16,000 new motorbikes and 500 new cars are registered in the city every month. By late January this year, Hanoi had more than 5.5 million personal vehicles, including early 500,000 cars and more than five million motorcycles. The numbers are expected to increase to more than 7.3 million motorbikes and 1.3 million cars by 2025.

Meanwhile, just less than 10% out of Hanoi’s land is allocated for transport infrastructure, which is woefully inadequate compared to the necessary rate of 20-25%, Vien added. He also mentioned the more serious air pollution of the city which is mainly blamed on vehicle exhaust fumes.

Vien also highlighted that the department has considered charging tolls on private vehicles which run into some inner-city areas. The city will consult with local authorities on working out a specific plan for this, including areas and times for the congestion charging.

By 2030, public transport is expected to meet around 50% of the city’s demand as some urban railways and more BRT routes will be put into operation, he said.

Some experts attributed to Hanoi’s traffic congestion to problems to infrastructure and planning issues along with construction, specifying that many investors only focus on construction but don’t care about infrastructure development.

Hanoi needs to ease the population in inner-city areas in order to minimise traffic jams. However, in reality, more high-rise buildings have been allowed to be built in these areas, so, it is difficult for the city to improve the traffic.

Dtinews