The Ministry of Transport intends to submit a master plan that would limit the use of personal vehicles, and increase the capacity and quality of public transportation to the Government by the first quarter of next year.
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| A traffic inspector directs vehicles into correct lanes on the Hue-Hang Bai route. Ha Noi authorities want to have more routes that separate traffic into designated lanes. — VNA/VNS Photo The Duyet |
Newly-appointed minister Dinh La Thang made the statement at a meeting with the press on Wednesday, adding that the ministry would solicit public opinion on the plan and finalise it before submitting it to the Government.
Traffic congestion has been a thorny problem in big cities for years and has become worse due to a remarkable increase in the number of vehicles added to the country's roads annually. The ministry's initiative to reduce private vehicles was aimed at improving the traffic situation in big cities, especially in Ha Noi and HCM City.
During the meeting, Thang said that the ministry had launched a campaign to encourage transport officials and workers to take the bus to work at least one day per week.
He said he took routes No30 and 32 and the service was fine, but admitted to overloaded buses during peak hours and inconvenient stop locations.
The ministry would work with the Ha Noi Transport Corporation this month to come up with drastic measures to improve bus services, he said.
In terms of traffic accidents, Thang admitted to a continually rising death toll even though the overall number of accidents had fallen in the first eight months of the year. The ministry would work with the police to further raise public awareness about traffic laws and impose heavy fines on violators, especially transport officials.
He expressed his agreement with HCM City's proposal to increase fines, adding that illegal motorbike racers should have their vehicles destroyed. In a discussion about funding limitations for infrastructure construction, Thang said the ministry would provide favourable policies to attract investors. Allowing investors to collect fees under a market system could be a possibility, he said.
Also on Wednesday, Ha Noi People's Committee vice chairman Nguyen Van Khoi instructed relevant agencies, police and local authorities to re-arrange parking lots in areas of the city which were operating under the traffic lane division pilot project, which has separated traffic into designated lanes for cars and other vehicles.
Routes under the pilot project include Kim Ma, Tran Khat Chan-Dai Co Viet, Giai Phong, Hue-Hang Bai and Ba Trieu streets. Parking lots found impacting implementation of the pilot lane division through encroachment on the roadways would have their licences revoked. Figures from the Ha Noi Police showed that there were more than 92,720 traffic violations last month with 366 cars and 3,000 motorbike seized. Traffic accidents, primarily in the suburban areas of Thanh Tri, Soc Son, Thanh Oai and Quoc Oai provinces, left 47 people dead.
(Source: VNS)
