The Hanoi People's Committee is developing regulations to enhance coordination among departments, committees, sectors, and functional forces to ensure traffic order and safety and address traffic congestion issues.

Traffic congestion has been one of the pressing issues in Hanoi for years. Photo: The Hanoi Times

Under the plan, the Hanoi Police Department is the lead agency responsible for receiving and coordinating information related to traffic accidents, managing traffic order and safety, lane allocation, traffic regulation, and congestion prevention.

The Department of Transport serves as the focal point for coordinating the receipt of information, developing traffic organization plans, and collaborating to resolve traffic-related incidents and implement traffic organization measures to prevent congestion.

The people's committees of districts, towns, and districts are responsible for receiving information, resolving traffic-related incidents, ensuring traffic order and safety on delegated routes, and coordinating efforts to address traffic issues within their administrative boundaries. Hanoi traffic police are required to proactively deploy personnel and mobilize vehicles in case of traffic congestion or incidents to ensure smooth, safe, and convenient traffic flow. Remote lane allocation plans are also required to guide vehicles through congested areas or traffic incidents.

The traffic inspectorate will cooperate with the traffic police in directing traffic and allocating lanes in areas where traffic accidents or congestion occur.

Police in districts, towns, wards and communes, local authorities, and neighborhood watch groups collaborate in traffic control, congestion prevention, and traffic-related incidents or congestion management.

Contractors and construction companies working on road projects must provide personnel and vehicles to assist relevant authorities in resolving traffic issues and congestion within their construction areas.

Setting up a task force to receive information on traffic issues

The Hanoi People’s Committee also requires the police, the Department of Transport, and the People's Committees of districts, towns, and districts to set up task forces to handle information and reports from agencies, organizations, and individuals on traffic-related incidents or congestion through instant messaging applications. The aim is to quickly mobilize personnel and vehicles to address the issues promptly and ensure smooth and safe traffic flow.

Within 30 minutes of receiving information about traffic incidents or congestion, the relevant agencies must collaborate to handle the issues promptly. Failure to do so will result in full responsibility before the municipal People's Committee, noted the plan.

The Hanoi Police Department, the Department of Transport, and the People's Committees of districts, towns, and districts must publicly announce hotline numbers to timely receive feedback and information on traffic incidents, congestion, and traffic accidents, and ensure quick and efficient processing according to legal responsibilities and authorities.

The City Traffic Safety Committee is responsible for leading coordination efforts in inspecting and urging the implementation of tasks related to ensuring traffic order and safety and resolving traffic incidents, congestion, and traffic accidents by the Traffic Safety Committees in districts, towns, and districts. It also participates in collaborative research to develop solutions to reduce traffic congestion and accidents in the city.

In 2024, Hanoi continues to set the goal of curbing and reducing traffic accidents by 5% or more compared to 2023 in all three criteria (number of incidents, fatalities, and injuries). This includes reducing traffic congestion to effectively meet the commuting needs of the people, especially during the Lunar New Year in 2024.

Last year, traffic accidents in Hanoi decreased in all three criteria. Specifically, 1,248 incidents resulted in 710 fatalities and 823 injuries. Compared to the same period in 2022, this represents a decrease of 144 incidents (10.3%), 39 fatalities (5.2%), and 43 injuries (5.0%).

Regarding inspecting and handling violations of traffic orders and safety, law enforcement agencies issued more than 292,200 violation reports and imposed fines totaling over VND597 billion ($21 million). Regarding the organization of traffic within the city, adjustments were made to the traffic organization at 48 intersections and road sections. While traffic jams have been eliminated on 15 of the 37 most congested roads, they are beginning to occur on 11 others. Additionally, seven accident blackspots were thoroughly addressed.