Vietnam - Skyscrapers make city traffic congestion worse: NA deputies

HCMC – In a meeting on transport works supervision held on Wednesday, National Assembly deputies pointed out those granting licenses to build numerous high-rise buildings in the city centre had contributed to the increasingly dangerous number of traffic jams.

There are currently an estimated 5.3 million vehicles in the city, comprised of over 400,000 cars accounting for 30% of the total number of automobiles of the whole country and 4.83 million motorcycles making up 15% of the total number of motorbikes in the nation.

In addition, there are over one million motorcycles and 60,000 cars traveling to HCMC from other provinces daily, according to HCMC’s Department of Transport.

It is noted that the land for transport is too limited. Transport space accounts for 5.84% of the total urban construction area and parking areas make up just 0.1% of the urban area.

This means that the fast-growing volume of vehicles has caused the current traffic congestion, explained the department.

However, Deputy Duong Trong Nghia claimed the large number of skyscrapers in downtown HCMC and the delay to set up satellite urban areas has contributed to the horrendous congestion which plagues the city.

Deputies suggested planning satellite urban areas and halting construction licenses for high buildings in the inner city ten years ago, but no satellite urban area has been built so far while buildings still mushroom annually, Nghia complained.

Nghia also warned that traffic jams in the city center will continue to get worse in the future even if the authority tries to apply some solutions such as fee collections for cars traveling in the city center or a ban on motorbikes on certain routes.

By Anh Quan - The Saigon Times Daily

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