Experts at a conference Thursday continued criticizing a controversial plan to toll cars in order to curb traffic problems in Ho Chi Minh City, asking the city government to take blame if the new system fails.

The Electronic Road Pricing system would reduce gridlock while also raising funds for new traffic projects, Quan told a conference in the city Thursday.

But others at the conference were less than confident the plan would work.

Ha Ngoc Truong, vice chairman of the HCMC Bridge, Road and Port Association, said he supported any effort to restrict personal vehicle use. But he also said it would be better for HCMC to draw upon the experiences of many countries, rather than just latching on to the one solution applied in Singapore.

Pham Xuan Mai, a professor at the HCMC University of Technology, said the new toll aimed to restrict cars, but traffic jams in the city were mainly caused by motorbikes.

Moreover, as most car owners in Vietnam are rich, they wouldn’t mind paying a small fee to continue driving, Mai said.

“People in other countries supported toll fees only because the systems effectively eased traffic congestion. If the city runs the system without any results, the situation will be much worse,” he said, adding that no one would be happy paying a toll simply to get stuck in a traffic jam.

Nguyen Trong Hoa, director of the HCMC Institute for Development Studies, was quoted by online newspaper VnExpress as saying that the system may end up causing new problems as more cars would choose to drive on smaller roads where tolls are not applied.

If the city government affirms the plan, it has to “prove the plan is effective and take full responsibility if it fails,” Hoa said.

Responding to the criticism, Bui Xuan Cuong, a senior official at the HCMC Transport Department, said the government was only considering the plan as an option and it would only be applied if and when it was really suitable.

He said other changes to the city’s traffic plan would have to be made first, adding that a toll system would only be implemented with public approval.

Reported by Phuong Thanh