Chronic congestion persists in Hanoi, HCMC as buildings keep rising: minister

Stricter control of urban planning in line with population scale is needed to curb traffic jams in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, said Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang, warning that traffic jams would continue if more high-rise buildings were developed in inner cities.

Minister Thang made the statement at a National Assembly Q&A session on Thursday. He stressed long-term solutions are needed to solve congestion in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, such as better urban planning, more land for traffic infrastructure, and further development of public transport.

The minister highlighted that 16-26% of urban land is needed for traffic infrastructure, but the current allocation is only 8-9%. Land for parking areas is also limited, he added.

A feasible solution is to further develop public transport, such as urban railways, the minister said.

Using the Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban railway in Hanoi as an example, he stressed that the line carries 31,000-33,000 people daily, and can peak at 50,000 passengers a day, helping to reduce congestion.

Another highlight is that 80% of users have season tickets and the system recorded a gross profit of VND100 billion ($4.26 million) in the first quarter of this year, just 19 months after it officially opened. HCMC is also about to open a new metro line, he added.

"The transport sector will focus more on building urban railways, bus routes, Ring Road 3 for HCMC and Ring Road 4 for Hanoi to open up the two cities and reduce traffic in central areas."

The sector is also considering other solutions to curb the number of private vehicles entering inner cities, such as only allowing vehicles in on certain days, similar to Beijing’s model, he said.

Traffic congestion is a chronic problem in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Hanoi loses $1-1.2 billion annually due to congestion, according to the Transport Development & Strategy Institute under the Ministry of Transport. The figure in HCMC could be as high as $6 billion, according to the National Traffic Safety Committee.