Five major cities - Ha Noi, HCM City, Hai Phong, Da Nang and Can Tho – have been ordered to pilot public bicycle rental services in downtown areas.

An order issued by Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai says this is one of the measures being implemented towards increasing traffic safety and reducing congestion in the cities by 2015.

Hai also instructed the cities to build a detailed road map to limit the use of personal vehicles and improve public transport by 2015.

The Deputy PM's instructions follow up on a proposal submitted by the Transport Ministry in November 2013 on developing different means of transport in big cities in Viet Nam.

Khuat Viet Hung, a senior ministry official, told the Lao Dong (Labour) Newspaper recently that several private companies were ready to run bicycle rental services at very reasonable rates.

He said the challenge in providing this service was logistics – authorities had to figure out where the rental bicycles can be parked and how to run the service efficiently.

The Old Quarter in Ha Noi and District 1 in HCM City were ideal areas to pilot the service, he said, adding that residents and visitors should be encouraged, not forced, to ride bicycles.

Source: VNS