Congestion in Ho Chi Minh City may get worse: experts

Traffic experts have warned that congestion in Ho Chi Minh City may get worse in the coming time, as the number of vehicles in Vietnam increases by 10 percent while the area of roads rises by only two percent each year.

Traffic jams remain a headache for local officials, as the development of infrastructure has not matched the surge of personal vehicles, while the growth of public transport keeps being sluggish, experts said.  

The city now has seven million cars and motorbikes and if they all travel on streets, they will cover the entire surface of the roads and no vehicle can move, they warned.

In 2010, the metropolis had about 4.9 million vehicles, including 4.49 million motorcycles and 446,956 cars, according to the Department of Transport.

By the end of 2012, the total number of vehicles had increased to nearly six million, including 5.46 million motorcycles and 536,983 cars.

By late 2014, the city had had more than seven million vehicles, including 6.4 million motorbikes and 600,000 automobiles, becoming the locality leading the country in the number of bikes.

Meanwhile, investment in infrastructure has grown very slowly, only about two percent per year.

In 2011, the city had about 3,217km of road covering a total of 25.8 million m² and 989 bridges with a total length of 50,030m.

In 2012, the total area of new roads and bridges increased by 595,000m² and 41.2km of new road with an area of 886.725m² as well as 24 new bridges opened to traffic in 2013.  

In 2014, 134.2km of new road was built, and it is expected that this year will see 34.5km of road and 10 bridges constructed.

Despite such development, rises in the numbers of personal vehicles and immigrants in the city have been making its traffic infrastructure still overloaded, the Department of Transport said.

Flyovers: short-lived measures

To solve the traffic jam problem at many intersections, Ho Chi Minh City authorities have invested in building many steel overpasses there, Vu Kien Thiet, director of the city’s Urban Traffic Management Zone 2, said, adding that such flyovers are only temporary solutions for easing the congestion.

For example, the overpass at the Hang Xanh intersection, which opened to traffic in January 2013, can temporarily alleviate traffic jams on the Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street section from Hanh Xanh to the Martyr Monument in Binh Thanh District.   

With an increase of 10 percent per year in the number of personal vehicles, traffic congestion is taking place at Hang Xanh despite the flyover, especially at rush hour.

The Lang Cha Ca flyover, which was put into use in Tan Binh District in April 2013, can also help reduce traffic jams for only a few years, the Urban Traffic Management Zone 2 said. 

Similarly, other overpasses, such as Cay Go in District 11 and 3/2-Nguyen Tri Phuong-Thanh Thai in District 10, are only short-term solution to the congestion issue, the municipal transport authorities said.

Number of bus passengers decreases

In order to ease traffic congestion, it is necessary to promote the development of public transport, experts said.

But there exists a paradox that while the number of personal cars continues to rise, that of bus passengers is declining in Ho Chi Minh City.

During the first six months of 2015, about 152 million people traveled by bus, down 15 million, or 8.9 percent, from a year earlier, according to the municipal Center for the Management and Operation of Public Passenger Transport.

There are many reasons why people do not want to travel by bus, including a lack of connection among the bus networks, frequent changes to the bus routes due to the impact of construction works, and the dangerous speeding of many buses.

The ill manners of many drivers, assistant drivers or other attendants have also deterred passengers from traveling by bus, the center said. 

Long-term solutions

In order to solve traffic problems in the city as well as other locations, it is essential to build more bridges and roads, develop public transport, and limit the use of personal vehicles, Dr. Pham Sanh, a traffic expert said.

If the use of private vehicles increases while infrastructure is not improved, then congestion will happen more frequently, Dr. Sanh said.

He also emphasized the need to have a perfect match between infrastructure-public transport development and urban management so as to help streamline traffic and reduce congestion.

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