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Curbing private vehicles to ease traffic pressure in downtown Hanoi
Anh Kiet 14:23, 2019/03/19
A survey by the Institute of Strategic Studies shows that among the six sources of air pollution in Hanoi, motorcycles and cars account for 70% of toxic substances discharged into the environment.
Over the past years, the more Hanoi has expanded, the more difficult it is for the city to cope with traffic congestion and environmental pollution. Thus curbing private vehicles in Hanoi is necessary to reduce traffic pressure in the downtown.

Failure to control the increase of motorcycles

By the end of 2018, Hanoi had about 6.5 million vehicles registered, about two million vehicles registered in other localities and other specialized vehicles circulating in the city. With the population of about 10 million people, the vehicle possession rate in Hanoi is almost one per capita. If only adults are takin into account, there are 2-3 motorized vehicles per person.
 
Raising people’s awareness of traffic safety to create a civilized and safe capital city. Photo: Thanh Hai
Raising people’s awareness of traffic safety to create a civilized and safe capital city. Photo: Thanh Hai
According to a survey by the Institute of Strategic Studies, among the six sources of air pollution in Hanoi, motorcycles and cars account for 70% of toxic substances discharged into the environment. Among them, 2.6 million worn out motorcycles are still in circulation, causing traffic insecurity and high-level of toxic emissions to the environment.

It seems that no action has been taken by the city’s authority to control the increase in number of vehicle. Traffic expert Dang Chi Nga explained: "Motorcycles are affordable, easy to travel, so motorbikes are suitable and favored by most people. Currently, Hanoi still sees an increasing number of hundreds of thousands of motorbikes every year, and no measure has been taken to halt the rising number.”

Act now for future generations

Traffic expert Nguyen Manh Thang said that there is no specific figure showing the average time of motorbike riding for each citizen. However, it can be affirmed that only about 50% of them use motorized vehicles as a must, mainly to earn their living.

Over the past years, traffic congestion and environmental pollution have become big issues for Hanoi. It is the city’s residents who are most affected by congestion and toxic dust and smoke. However, many people still remain indifferent, considering it a matter of the city’s authority, not their own. For those people, what they care about first is their self-interest, expert in social psychology Nguyen Anh Minh said.

Experts voiced that in order to solve Hanoi’s traffic problem, it is necessary to improve traffic conditions such as infrastructure development, relocate population to reduce traffic pressure in the inner city. That means restricting private vehicles, reducing traffic flows and encouraging people to use public transport.

Buses currently have not met people’s commuting demand. However, buses can’t go fast due to the large number of private vehicles on the roads. Curbing private vehicles in Hanoi is an extremely important condition so that buses as well as public vehicles can move faster and carry more people, Nguyen Manh Thang stressed.
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