Hanoi sparks row with bike ban plan
Print Edition
OFFICIALS in Vietnam’s traffic-choked capital Hanoi vowed yesterday to banish motorbikes by 2030 to ease environment and congestion woes, a decision that swiftly divided a city where two-wheelers are the main means of transportation.
Hanoi is famed for legions of motorbikes — sometimes stacked with entire families or overloaded with deliveries — that clog roads in a fast-growing city with limited public transport.
There are 5 million motorbikes among a population of about 7 million, compared to half a million cars.
In a country where the average annual wage is still around US$2,200, the affordability of motorbikes makes them ubiquitous.
Yet critics have blamed the emissions-heavy motorbikes for Hanoi’s deteriorating air quality and worsening traffic congestion.
The decision to ban motorbikes by 2030 was approved by 95 of 96 city councillors.
Officials said the number of vehicles was growing at an “alarming” rate, according to a report on the city government’s website.
“Traffic jams and air pollution will become serious in the future if no immediate management measures are in place,” the report said.
The ban will be implemented in metropolitan districts and public transport options would be increased to wean people off their scooters.
The number of registered motorbikes in Vietnam is among the highest in Southeast Asia, and officials in Hanoi have long-mulled banning the bikes in an effort to modernize the city along the lines of Seoul or Tokyo.
Some welcomed the move, saying the ban is crucial to cleaning up Hanoi’s air, which is notoriously smoggy in the winter months.
“Too many private cars, too many motorbikes ... the quality of air is really bad and the decision made today will improve that,” said economist and transport expert Luong Hoai Nam.
The city clocked 282 days of “excessive” levels of PM2.5 — fine particulate matter harmful to human health — last year, said the GreenID NGO, citing World Health Organization guidelines.
The Hanoi government is rolling out an air monitoring system in an effort to make Hanoi “green and clean and civilised so that people living and working here have a high quality of life,” Nguyen Trong Dong, the head of the city’s environment department said last month.
On social media, some people decried the ban — questioning whether the government will really offer viable public transport alternatives as promised.
“This idea is totally insane,” said office worker Hoang Thuy Duong, who rides a motorbike to work daily. “Motorbikes are the best means of transportation in Hanoi. I doubt authorities can replace them with public vehicles.”
Hanoi does not have a metro system, only public buses which account for 12 percent of travel demand. Officials said yesterday they plan to boost that share to around 50 percent by 2030. Construction of a sky train has been repeatedly delayed but is slated to open next year.
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