The central city of Da Nang has allocated 14 streets where parking is only allowed on odd or even dates in the downtown districts of Hai Chau, Thanh Khe, Cam Le, Son Tra and Ngu Hanh Son.— Photo tuoitre.vn

Deputy director of the city’s Transport Department, Nguyen Dang Huy said these streets were the busiest downtown areas with shopping centres, cars and bus stops, markets and tourists.
He said the move would help ease congestion in rush hours and offer more space for traffic.

The city also bans car parking at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Quang Trung and Le Duan streets from 6.30am to 8.30am and from 4.30pm to 6.30pm.

According to the department, fines for traffic violations via the traffic camera system at some major streets in Son Tra, Ngu Hanh Son and Hoa Vang districts took effect from this month.
It said 145 traffic cameras, which were installed at busy junctions, recorded 68,000 violations in 2018.

The city’s traffic police said the city has 69,000 cars, 800,000 motorbikes and over 5,000 electric bikes, excluding cars and personal vehicles from localities that pass in and out of the city everyday.

However, it has only two bus stations and 17 car parks to meet only 10 per cent of demand for parking. This means nine out of 10 cars had to park on streets instead of in public car parks.

In 2015, the city opened its first underground car park at the Administrative Centre on Tran Phu Street to accommodate 179 cars and 1,500 motorbikes.

The city also asked three-star hotels to assign land areas for car park construction by 2020 as an eligible condition for offering accommodation services.

VNS