The Government Office has requested Hanoi and HCM City authorities study a proposal to ban private cars from the inner city for five hours per day.

A ban on private car is hoped to ease traffic jams

The proposal was sent by enthusiastic amateur traffic policy developer Mai Trong Tuan to the Government Office, Ministry of Transport and the municipal government of Hanoi and HCM City on March 13.

Under his proposal, Tuan recommended that, if approved, the ban should be applied from Mondays to Fridays in order to mitigate traffic congestion.

As a result, Nguyen Van Khoi, Vice Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee assigned the municipal Department of Transport to consider the solution and make a report to the city’s government prior to May 15.

Banning motorbikes rejected

According to Tuan, people’s claim that the recent boom in motorbikes has caused traffic congestion was unfounded.

He explained, “If the ban on motorbike is applied now, it will directly impact lives of over 95% of residents in big cities.”

“It’s impossible to force the majority of residents to pay certain parking fees for their idle motorbikes and switch to travel by other means of transport amid their mounting economic difficulties, the serious lack of parking lots, and the substandard quality of public transportation service,” he noted.

A ban on private cars "needed"

In his point of view, Tuan said that the most appropriate solution to traffic congestion in Hanoi and HCM City was to ban private cars for five hours per day, five days per week.

Hanoians struggle with traffic congestion

He said it would be fairer to the majority of residents to ban private cars instead of motorbikes as only the minority of people were travelling by car. These people could use motorbikes instead during rush hours as current traffic infrastructure in the country was not yet capable of coping with large numbers of cars.

By early 2012, HCM City has nearly 500,000 cars but over five million motorbikes. Even though the number of cars accounted for just 10% of motorbikes, they used as many as 55% of the road and 65% of space in parking lots.

“Traffic congestion often strikes when four to five cars travel against the overwhelming weight of traffic, forcing remaining vehicles to share the remaining modest space,” he said.

He added that such a ban on private cars should be maintained for some years in order to give authorities more time to improve the quality of public transport before banning motorbikes.