Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Hanoi(VNA) –Public transport is expected to make up 35 percent of Hanoi’s total transportation market share in 2020, rising from 12 percent at present, according to the city’s recently released transport planning for 2020 with a vision towards 2050.
Public transport is seen as a solution to traffic jams in the capital as it can deal with the large population and weak infrastructure.
The planning targets sustainability, comprehensiveness and modernity of the municipal transport system as part of the capital development master plan to 2050, Vu Van Nen, Director of the municipal Department of Transport, told a ceremony to announce the blueprint on July 30.
Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung described the planning as an important legal foundation for the management of projects to serve local development.
It pairs Hanoi’s transport development with the growth of the Hanoi Capital Metropolitan area, the Red River Delta and the northern key economic zone, while ensuring the unity of the national transport development strategy, he added.
Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said that the Government supports Hanoi’s efforts and will create the best possible mechanisms for the city to develop.
Planning is a scientific process, he said, underlining the need to set forth specific mechanisms, policies and reforms to put planning into place, along with creating optimal conditions for investors, businesses and economic sectors to engage in the city’s transport projects.
Hanoi aims to reduce up to 10 congestion hotspots and limit the duration of traffic jams to less than 30 minutes.
Figures from the city show that about 20,000 motorbikes and 8,000 cars are newly registered every month.
It is estimated the city will have about one million cars and seven million motorbikes by 2020.
Traffic infrastructure remains inadequate, making traffic congestion a major problem, especially in the inner city.VNA
