Kate Hodal in Hanoi
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| Hanoi’s streets are swamped by motorbikes carrying all kinds of passengers. Photograph: Abbie Trayler-Smith for the Observer |
The roads of Vietnam’s capital have been taken over by the two-wheeled horde, but bringing in a ban by 2030 will be a tough ask
It is easy to spot a foreigner in Hanoi. Cowering at intersections, staring in awe as the traffic hurtles past, tourists wait for a break in the flow of motorcycles, bicycles, carts, cars and buses – or for a kind driver to stop and bestow them the right of way – so that they may finally cross the road.
That break never comes, of course, which is why the Vietnamese capital’s chaotic congestion is a phenomenon that hotel concierges often address with first-time visitors. The New York Times even published a how-to guide for tourists on safely crossing the road. With 5m motorbikes on the city’s streets – many of them carrying entire families, or stacked up with boxes, window frames or flowers – Hanoi has long been either a thrilling, or terrifying, experience for the uninitiated.
But all that is about to change. The department of transport and the city council have agreed to ban motorbikes and scooters by 2030 to ease congestion and air pollution. Citing an “alarming” increase in the number of two-wheeled vehicles – traffic is at nearly four times the capacity of roads in crowded areas – the government has decided to invest heavily in public transport instead, including a £40m bus rapid transit system, or BRT, and monorail, due to open next year.
“If rates were to continue as they have been, then by 2030 we would have 1.9m cars and 7.5m motorbikes on the road – but there’s conflict between the development of our infrastructure and the transportation needs of our residents,” Vietnam’s transport minister, Vu Van Vien, tells the Observer from a government plenary room in Hanoi, where a bronze statue of Ho Chi Minh stands in the corner.
“If we don’t act now, we will face a serious problem: an overload of our infrastructure and a high level of pollution impacting our city air. We must ensure both the mobility and life quality of Hanoi’s residents.”
Vu points to a survey earlier this year of the city’s levels of PM2.5 – smog particles responsible for throat and lung damage – which found that the city of seven million residents had already passed World Health Organisation regulations in the first three months of this year. Vu says that it is the city’s motorbikes, only a handful of which are electric, that are largely responsible, owing to their age and failure to meet modern environmental regulations.
While residents agree that pollution is a massive problem, and most motorbike users wear respiratory face masks, many of them are not convinced that the ban will improve congestion or pollution.
“It’s a big issue,” says Le Thį Huong, 45, a barista at a cafe that overlooks one of Hanoi’s busiest intersections, Xa Dan, where 10 heavily trafficked roads intertwine, just one block over from the new monorail.
“It’s true that there are far too many xe may [motorbikes] on the road, and there’s far too much pollution, but my motorbike is my only form of transport. The traffic can be a nightmare – sometimes I’m stuck for an hour, just to go a few blocks – but I’d be lost without it: I take my kids to school, I go to work, I use it to see friends. I used to take the bus, but I’d have to get a xe om [mototaxi] just to get to the bus stop, and then I’d have to change the bus a few times to get to work,” Le said. “The journey took one and a half hours, whereas with my bike it takes only 20 minutes.”
The capital has already placed a daytime ban on trucks and lorries in order to ease congestion, Vu says, while the motorbike ban is not likely to be city-wide, but only within the most heavily trafficked areas. Hanoi may also decide to enact a congestion charge for all vehicles, similar to London’s, to help ease traffic in the future.
But for a city struggling with congestion, it is odd that officials have suggested that taxis and cars – in conjunction with public transport – should be used to replace the capital’s ubiquitous two wheels. Hanoi’s masterplan sees public transport taking on only 55% of the city’s needs by 2030, and Vu – bafflingly – thinks that those who do not live close enough to the new monorail and bus systems should simply drive, or be driven, to the closest bus or rail stop.
“We plan for 80% of those living in the city limits to have access to some form of public transport within 500 metres of their home,” he says. “And the other 20% will have access to a taxi, or private car or bicycle.”
As annual wages increase, many Vietnamese are now spurning motorbikes for cars, which means congestion may not ease by 2030, but worsen. While planned government subsidies to use public transport may help, there is no scrappage scheme to buy off the motorbikes and scooters that residents will soon need to hand over – and many residents, including ministers interviewed by the Observer, have as many as four motorbikes per household (one for every member of the family). The BRT stations, all shiny and new, are largely empty, and the BRT-only traffic lanes are crowded with motorbikes zooming past each other.
Perhaps the largest impediment to Hanoi’s plan to ease congestion is drivers’ behaviour: the roads are good, the rules are good, but “the drivers are bad”, says Vu, “they don’t follow the rules”. That’s why, for now, the only rule is to go your own way, he says – whether you are a pedestrian or a driver.
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