Why is Hanoi increasingly congested?
Currently, there are 33 "hot" spots in Hanoi that are often congested during rush hour, causing a number of problems to the citizens. To solve the problem of traffic congestion in the capital, Hanoi has made many efforts, but it is only investing in expanding some roads, deploying some overpasses, PRT bus routes... but that is not enough.
According to the survey by the Institute of Transport Strategy and Development, Ministry of Transport, after returning to a new normal life after COVID-19, the "compression spring" effect caused the number of trips to increase significantly. Preliminary survey shows that the average number of trips per day per person has increased from 3.7 to 3.9 trips per day. In addition, the demand for purchasing personal vehicles, especially cars, has increased from 11-13% to 17% at the moment.
Besides, based on the evaluation of the Traffic Police Department, City Police. Hanoi, there are many reasons why Hanoi's traffic is often congested recently. Those are the socio-economic development activities that have been restored after the Covid epidemic, causing the number of people travelling to increase much higher than when the epidemic was still complicated. Additionally, millions of students are returning to school after a long period of online study also leads to increasing traffic pressure on the streets. Along with that, tourism activities were opened all over the country, making the number of traffic participants also much higher than at the time of the previous freeze. Mr. Bui Danh Lien, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi Transport Association, also said that the licensing of too many apartments and high-rise buildings caused the density of residents in the city to be compressed, making the congestion even more serious: "The offices of the previous agencies, now they move to build houses, so the houses are so high, people gather, that's how the population gathers". While the density of people and vehicles increases, the average number of trips per day also increases, making the congestion density thicker and longer. Meanwhile, the public transport system is slow to be deployed or has not yet attracted many users.
The Hanoi People's Committee has just issued Plan No. 235 to implement the Government's Resolution No. 48/2022 on enhancing traffic order and safety and combating traffic congestion in the 2022-2025 period in the city. The plan aims to mobilise all resources, synchronously deploy solutions, apply advanced scientific and technological achievements to ensure traffic order and safety, fight traffic jams, towards building a capital with safe, smooth, convenient, efficient and environmentally friendly traffic system. Accordingly, Hanoi aims to strive to reduce annually from 5% to 10% of traffic accidents on all three criteria, to prevent particularly serious accidents, to reduce at least 50 percent of people killed and injured in road traffic accidents by 2030 compared to 2020. Also, every year, the plan aims to handle between 7-10 points of frequent traffic jams, limit the arising of new traffic jams, prevent traffic jams lasting more than 30 minutes, promptly remove black spots on traffic accidents.
Source: vovgiaothong, laodong