The Hanoi Department of Transportation has lifted a ban to allow taxis and other nine-seater shared vehicles to operate on some local roads.

A shared car operates on Le Van Luong Road, Hanoi. Photo: The Hanoi Times

The ban will be lifted from April 29 to October 29 and may change after that.

The streets and roads where taxis and nine-seater shared cars can operate include Cat Linh, Giang Vo, Lang Ha, Kham Thien, and Le Van Luong streets, and Nguyen Van Cu, Chuong Duong Bridge, and Phuong Canh as well.

The Municipal Transportation Department will remove the prohibition signs and work with the Traffic Police Department and the authorities of Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh, Dong Da, Hai Ba Trung, Hoang Mai and Long Bien districts to ensure thorough and smooth traffic flow in accordance with the decision.

Hanoi has banned taxis and ride-hailing cars from 11 streets and roads during certain times of the day in 2020 to reduce traffic congestion, especially during rush hours from 6 to 9 am and 4:30 to 7:30 pm.

The ban and the Covid-19 pandemic have hampered the operations of taxi companies and other ride-hailing businesses, Hanoi Taxi Association Chairman Nguyen Cong Hung said in a February proposal to local authorities to lift the ban.

The number of taxis and nine-seater vehicles in the city has dropped from more than 19,200 to about 10,000, he said.

Hung proposed that the Transportation Department lift the taxi ban, arguing that taxis and shared-ride vehicles are public transportation, so their operations would help ease the congestion that the city's transportation network has endured.

The taxi operations will help boost the city's tourism sector as travelers will no longer have to walk a long distance to catch a taxi, he said.