Sustainable Urban Traffic in Vietnam · Sustainable Urban Traffic in Vietnam - Obstacles and Requirements HCMUARC Dr.-Ing. Michael Bose 2. Some facts about traffic in Vietnam 1. Vietnam

Sustainable Urban Traffic in Vietnam -Obstacles and Requirements

HCMUARC Dr.-Ing. Michael Bose

Sustainable Urban Traffic in Vietnam –

Obstacles and Requirements

1. Change of traffic guidelines and visions

2. Some facts about traffic in Vietnam

3. Observation of traffic situations and of traffic behavior

4. Lack of implementation and of monitoring

5. Requirement for an integrated urban traffic strategy



1. Change of traffic guidelines and visions

In Germany:

• 50 years ago the former German Minister of Transport and Construction had

the vision to build up a dense highway-net all over Germany to promote

economic development for all regions. „In future it must be possible to reach

a highway from every municipality in not more than 40 km distance.“

This goal could not been realized.

• 30 years later the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR) of the same ministry declares: „In the 1950s and 1960s communal transport was extremely car oriented. Today the notion is more accepted that transport has to adapt to urban structures and not vice-versa.“

• Today the traffic guidelines are “shifting from car transport to public transport and to pedestrians and cyclists and reducing the travel distances” (BBR).



In Vietnam:

• In Vietnam recently the draft Socio-Economic Development Strategy 2011-2020 will be discussed. “Rapid and sustained growth is the guiding philosophy. If this strategy will be implemented effectively the country can enter in a new era of sustainable development.” (PM Dung, in: VN News 3/8/2010)

It is a big challenge to implement sustainability as traffic guidelines under an ongoing rapid economic growth and facing the big demand to upgrade traffic infrastructure.

Facing the threat through climate change for Vietnam the Change of guidelines to sustainable urban traffic has to be realized faster than in Germany.



2. Some facts about traffic in Vietnam

1. Vietnam has the highest per capita motorbike ownership in the world.

Vietnam is for motorbike producers the fourth largest market worldwide.

In the last five years 2.5 to 3 million motorbikes were sold every year.

In Hanoi 2,5 million motorbikes are registered, in HCMC 3 million (2009).

2. The pressure on transport rises in Vietnam. After rapidly replacement of bicycles by motorbikes in the last decade now more and more people move to cars especially in big cities .

3. In peak hours inner-city-traffic speed of cars and buses is much slower (under 15 km/h) then of motorbikes (18-20 km/h). A do-nothing-scenario-2020 for Hanoi forecasts that the average travel speed will decrease dramatically.

My hypothesis :

For the next years we have to deal with the fact that the Vietnamese society is dependent on motorbike. This in mind we have to find

sustainable urban traffic solutions!



Road traffic accidents in Vietnam 1997- 2008

There is a significant decrease of serious injury since 2002 and further

decrease since implementation of obligatory helmet use in 2007.

But there are still a high number of traffic fatality. Vietnam has still the

third highest rate of road fatality per capita in South East Asia.



Negative impacts of increasing motorisation in Asian Cities

• Air quality

• Noise and vibration

• Accidents

• Global climate change

• Natural habitats

• Congestion

• Economic efficiency

• Loss of living space

JakartaSource: Swiss contact foto

competition 2002

Hanoi Old Town

China has

16 of the most

polluted cities

worldwideSource: GTZ 2005



3. Observation of traffic situations and of traffic behavior

Red light will be ignored often

Driving in the wrong direction

is very common

photos : 2007



In many streets is no space for

pedestrians on the sidewalk

because it’s full of parking cars

and motorbikes

All goods - even dangerous ones -

will be transported by motorbike

photo : 2007



In rush hours it is very common that

cars are using the lanes for motorbikes

and motorbikes drive over the sidewalks

From the view of an European expert traffic

behavior of Vietnamese people seems to be

not very disciplined. There is a very common

principle of “try and let go”:

I go in my direction. I take the space I need before someone else will do so.

From my point of view this behavior comes to a limit in a traffic system that becomes

more and more fast and automatically controlled.



4. Lack of implementation and of monitoring

There is no lack of proposals and concepts for new

urban transport systems. The international transport

system producers want to sell their products. The adaption of the systems on the local

needs is insufficient. So there is a big gap between plans and implementation.

Priority for two Metro Lines in HCMC –

(HCMC Planning Exhibition 2006)

Proposal for future UMRT Network in HCMC(UPI-HCMC, Nikken Sekkei, Study of the HCMC

Master Plan up to 2025, presentation 15/1/2007)



In the last years good progress were made with public city bus systems.

But recently nearly 30 percent of all HCMC City buses and coaches fail to meet

Vietnamese/Euro2 emissions standards. (VN News 4/8/2010)

The Government has ordered nearly 21,000 unsafe old buses off the road. But

they are still carrying passengers throughout the whole country. (VN News 27/7/2010)

In the first half of year 2010 three hundred fatal accidents happened at railway

crossings all over Vietnam. Beside only 15% of level crossings nationwide are

manned or have alarm systems the main reason for accidents are reportedly

impromptu crossings and reckless crossing of rail track by many vehicle drivers.

(VN News 2/8/2010)

Despite of many programs peoples awareness in traffic safety is very limited.

Traffic injuries and fatalities of poor people are 10times higher than of others. (Le Minh Chau, 2006)

80% of the recently offered motorbike helmets did not meet national standards. (VN News 2/8/2010)



BRT Bogota

BRT Jakarta

BRT Tehran

BRT started in South American cities:

Curitiba, Quito and Bogota.

BRT also runs in many Asian cities.

Critical points remain:

• the safety at crossings with individual traffic

• the travel speed and

• the technical solutions for access of

passengers

5. Requirement of an integrated urban traffic strategyUpgrading public transport - the example BRT



LRT Tokyo

Metro System MoscowLRT Hamburg

Example Metro and LRT

Metro Systems and LRT Systems are efficient but also very expensive.

One line only will not solve the traffic problem.



‘Sky train’

Bangkok

TRAM in Orleans and Strasbourg, France

Example Tram

There is a revival of tram systems in Europe. These systems could be integrated

better in the existing urban environment than LRT systems like the Sky Train.

The critical point of tram systems remains the crossings with MoT.



Express Boat Service Bangkok

New environment friendly traffic elements and new public transport

systems could improve City Centers

New Tram System in Dublin

Pedestrian Street:

Nanjing Road Shanghai



Congestion charging London

ERP Singapore

Regulations and Restrictions - Beside all improvements and new transport systems

there will be a need for regulations and restrictions for the motorized traffic in City Centers.

Some of the Road Toll Systems

failed other are successful.Wheel clamp in Dublin



Vietnam is one of the most important markets for motorbikes. So changing of the engines is possible

by a long time announcement in advance by the government. The State California is a good example.

In case continuous power supply is given, Vietnam could register only environment friendly Electro

Bikes in the big cities in a few years.

Proposal: Electro bikes as replacement for motorbikes.Aiming on reduction of pollution and on reduction of road accidences

Electro Bike BejingElectro Bike Bejing



The ongoing replacement of motorbikes through cars has a great impact

on land use structure and on traffic volume. The historic compact urban

structure of many Vietnamese cities starts to disappear. The use of cars

enforce suburbanization and disperse settlement structures.

There is a recent discussion in the big Vietnamese cities to limit the number

of businesses in their city centers to ease traffic congestion. From my point

of view this proposal could not solve the problem. Traffic will be not reduced

traffic will be only shifted:

- Compact cities have the shortest distances that means less traffic.

- Compared with other big South-Asian Cities the density in the big

Vietnamese cities is not very high.

- Decentralization could be a relief strategy. But first an environmental friendly

mass rapid transit system has to be build which is affordable for the people

otherwise traffic becomes worse.

Traffic and land use



Urban traffic and urban transport are key issues for the future economic, social

and environmental development of Vietnamese cities. Not one stand-alone high

tech system is the solution, only integrated strategies for all kind of traffic can

solve the problem.

I sum my requirements up in four points:

1. Change of guidelines with the new priorities: first avoid or reduce

traffic, second shift the mode and third make the remaining traffic

well-tolerated.

2. Building up an environment-friendly urban transport system with

effective integration of other modes.

3. Restriction measures for cars and motorbikes and improvement

for non-motorized traffic.

4. Reducing the gap between plans and regulations on the one hand

and changing the traffic behavior of Vietnamese people on the other.

Conclusions



THANK YOU–CAM ON

In growing cities with limited space

not every traffic demand can be satisfied.

The public space - streets and places have to

fulfill many different functions to be a lively city.

Documents

Sustainable Urban Traffic in Vietnam · Sustainable Urban Traffic in Vietnam - Obstacles and Requirements HCMUARC Dr.-Ing. Michael Bose 2. Some facts about traffic in Vietnam 1. Vietnam