Hanoi is considering a ban on the slow-moving, open-air pedicabs known as cylcos.

 

“Cultural leaders say that cyclos add a great deal to the city’s tourism industry but others claim that the vehicles obstruct traffic,” Nguyen Duc Nhanh, director of the Hanoi Police Department, said at a meeting on Thursday.

 

According to an account reported by VnExpress, Nhanh said that current regulations allow cyclo drivers to travel at a maximum of five abreast.

 

In the event that more than five cyclos are travelling in a group, they must be spaced 200 meters apart.

 

During the recent meeting, Nhan charged that cyclo drivers regularly disobey these regulations.

 

The Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism agreed, saying that some groups of cyclos usually travel in packs of 40-50, clogging narrow streets and impeding traffic.

 

Nhanh said that although Hanoi has licensed 324 cyclos, there are more than 1,000 pedicabs operating in the capitol.

 

"In the coming time, we need to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the city’s cyclo," he said. "We need to seize the pedicabs of illegal operators and gradually reduce the number of cyclos until they’re gone.”