Khuat Viet Hung,director of the Department of Transport, spoke to Nong thon ngay nay(Countryside today) about a project to develop public transport inVietnam's major cities.
* Why was the project titledLimitation on individual vehicles renamed to Appropriate ways todevelop transportation forms in Vietnam's big cities?
The previous name caused misunderstandings. The goal of trafficmanagement and development is actually to facilitate safe, economicaland eco-friendly transportation. To achieve this, we need to utiliseinfrastructure and public transport most effectively.
The project is a collection of short-time and medium-term solutions tocontrol traffic. Limiting the numbers of individual vehicles is asolution, not a target.
* How will the solution of limiting individual vehicles be used?
Management of vehicles is one of the four main solutions offered. Ithelps commuters decide which means of transport will benefit them most.It aims to reduce the percentage of individual vehicles by 20-25 percentby 2020, thus increasing the use of public transport and bicycles.
Individual motorbikes currently account for 80 percent of traffic, andthe ratio should be reduced by 55 percent by 2020. To do that, we needto re-arrange traffic flows, organise pedestrian streets, increasepublic transport - and collect parking fees, which should be high ininner cities and low in outer areas.
Each city willhave its own level of private transport. We will not directly prohibitanything because the word "prohibit" creates a negative attitude, but wehave solutions instead. For example, we will expand pedestrian streets,which means no vehicles can enter.
* Why was a proposal to collect fees for travelling in the inner city removed?
The proposal was discussed, but due to economic difficulties, wasfound not to be feasible. The aim of the project is to create lowertraffic costs.
Because infrastructure has not been improved, we need to do better in managing what we have now.
* What are the responsibilities of agencies and localities involved in the project?
Inner city traffic is the responsibility of central cities andprovinces. The Government is only responsible for creating measures.
In particular, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have to complete the projecton controlling individual vehicles and develop bus transport as well asmodernising public-transport management centres by 2017. Additionally,two cities will co-operate with the Ministry of Finance to pilot thecollection of fees for parking vehicles.
* Many experts doubt the success of the project. How do you evaluate its feasibility?
The solution is feasible because we will not only develop publictransport, but also manage individual vehicles. We need to build publictransport management centres to control public transpor, as well asgiving priority to buses. Other vehicles will have to make ways forbuses at peak hours.
The solution has already beenimplemented and shows signs of working well. Some streets in Hanoi havealready prohibited private cars at peak hours and ensured pavement spacefor pedestrians.-VNA
