LookAtVietnam – Experts have blamed policy orientations as well as weak implementation for the extremely tardy headway made in reducing traffic congestion in HCM City.

New and modern 46-seat buses have come into operation in HCM City. Some experts suggest encouraging the use of public transport instead of private vehicles will ease the city’s traffic congestion.

Speaking at a seminar on strengthening strategies to prevent traffic congestion in the city, Associate Professor Pham Xuan Mai of the HCM City University of Technology said the city expects to have 4.5 million motorbikes on its roads by 2011. This would considerably worsen the congestion problem, he noted.

Mai blamed the Ministry of Industry and Trade for targeting the production of 33 million motorbikes by 2020, saying “this is an absolutely wrong strategy to solve the puzzle of traffic in the country and big cities in particular”.

He argued that policies to ban motorbike imports and restrain domestic production were needed to discourage the use of bikes and encourage the use of public transportation means.

“At a time when public transport cannot meet the demand of residents, motorbikes are still the only option for commuting,” said Nguyen Van Thanh of the HCM City Road – Bridge – Port Association, disagreeing with Mai.

Thanh said the city should mobilize the contribution of citizens to fund traffic infrastructure and public transportation by charging an additional VND500 on every litre of petrol that is pumped into motorbike at petrol stations around the city.

“The city can earn around VND500 billion (US$28 million) a year,” he estimated, adding that citizens would be eager to contribute with tiny amounts of cash rather than larger sums like the mandatory road-use fees of about VND100,000 per motorbike a year.

Thanh stressed that neither the limitation on ownership of more than one motorbike per person nor tolls on motorbike could help reduce congestion, while increasing public resentment.

Associate Professor Nguyen Xuan Vinh of the Ton Duc Thang University recommended that the city study and allocate buses of proper size based on the road width. Buses that can carry 50-70 passengers running on most routes currently should be replaced with smaller ones that can better navigate narrow roads, he said.

Thanh said the way the city invested in upgrading facilities and bus services should convince residents to use them for commuting. Having separate roads for buses is also necessary to avoid them being surrounded by a large mass of motorbikes, he added.

However, these measures have to be decided by city authorities who have thus far shown that the process of making decisions and implementing them was very sluggish.

“The need for limiting the number of motorbikes was expressed 30 years ago, and that of developing public transportation, especially the bus system was recognised 15 years ago, but very little has been done to carry out the first idea and nothing for the second,” said Vu Duc Thang of the HCM City Road – Bridge – Port Association.

Ha Ngoc Truong, deputy head of the association said any feasible solution would be worthless if the city authorities paid them little or no attention. He wanted the city’s Department of Transport to delegate a unit to receive, study recommendations and respond to the public about these issues.

At the seminar, some experts called for the removal of traffic signals at very busy intersections, and replacing them with round-abouts.

“Red lights can help reduce conflicts between vehicles from different flows of traffic on low – or medium-density roads,” said Pham Tuan, former general director of the road construction Cienco 5, “but they perpetrate congestion on high-density roads so we should stop using them.”

Tuan suggested using round-abouts at such intersections, saying they enable four times as many vehicles as a traffic lights system to pass through.

Thanh agreed in part with Tuan, but felt a combination of traffic lights and temporary roundabouts during rush hours was preferable. He said this model had proved effective in Ha Noi.

“At large intersections, pavements on the right hand side should be reclaimed for opening more space for vehicles that tend to turn right,” said Vinh, “and at the same time create a two phase mechanism for the red light.”

All vehicles will stop at the red light, but only those turning left will move at the first green light, and those who have to go straight should wait for the second one, Vinh explained. This way, vehicles turning right do not have to stop at red lights and those turning left go first, thus avoiding confusion and congestion and ensuring a smoother traffic flow.

Thang suggested a stimulus package that provides strong funding for the Department of Transport to replace old buses with new ones, and to launch a promotion campaign to attract commuters.

He said bonuses for best bus services and conductors would also encourage better service on bus routers.

Truong said he would gather all the opinions and suggestions and convey them to the Director of the HCM City Department of Transport, Tran Quang Phuong and ask for a detailed response.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News