Hanoi needs $53 billion to address traffic congestion.

This information was presented in the draft master plan "Reducing traffic congestion in Hanoi in the period 2025 - 2030 and beyond," which was reported at a workshop held on the afternoon of October 21st by the Hanoi Department of Construction.

Traffic congestion in Hanoi - Photo: PHAM TUAN

The Hanoi Department of Construction announced that on the afternoon of October 21, it held a workshop to discuss the overall plan "Reducing traffic congestion in Hanoi in the period 2025 - 2030 and beyond" (the plan).

Gradually restrict motorized vehicles from entering the city center.

In his opening remarks at the workshop, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Duong Duc Tuan pointed out that the current urbanization process and the increase in the city's population due to migration are happening rapidly, accompanied by a surge in private vehicles.

However, the underdeveloped transportation infrastructure has made traffic congestion the biggest challenge for Hanoi.

Therefore, addressing traffic congestion needs to be included in the action plan from 2026 to 2031, with the goal of reducing congestion being a "central, urgent, and breakthrough" task.

Regarding the overall plan to reduce traffic congestion, the Vice Chairman of Hanoi requested that it be based on the strong application of digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) in management, monitoring, traffic flow management, and handling of violations.

At the same time, Hanoi needs to regulate and control private vehicles and gradually restrict motorized vehicles from entering the city center.

Furthermore, according to Mr. Tuan, Hanoi needs to encourage green transportation, improve traffic culture, and mobilize diverse resources from the state budget to private capital and international cooperation to ensure the feasibility and sustainability of key projects.

It costs $53 billion to solve traffic congestion in Hanoi.

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thao - Project Leader - presents the draft of the overall plan to reduce traffic congestion in Hanoi for the period 2025-2030 and beyond - Photo: Hanoi Department of Construction.

Reporting on the project, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thao - the project leader - stated that the population density in Hanoi is currently 8.2 times higher than the national average. Population density is unevenly distributed and highly concentrated in the inner city; some areas have very high densities, such as the former Dong Da district, reaching 38,000 people/ ^km² .

In addition, Hanoi currently has approximately 9.2 million motor vehicles of all types. Of these, Hanoi has over 8 million vehicles of all types (including 1.1 million cars and 6.9 million motorbikes) and about 1.2 million private vehicles (cars and motorbikes) from other provinces and cities circulating in the city.

The annual increase in the number of vehicles is approximately 4-5%, in some cases up to 10% per year, far exceeding the average annual increase in transportation infrastructure at a rate of 0.3-0.5%.

The draft plan also points out that the current ratio of land area allocated for transportation to urban built-up area is only 12.13% (the planning target is 20-26%); the ratio of land area for static traffic is less than 1% (the planning target is 3-4%), only meeting 8-10% of the parking needs of the entire city.

The public transport coverage rate reached 19.5% of demand (much lower than the planned target of 30-55%) with 153 bus routes, 1 BRT bus route, and 2 new urban railway sections totaling 21.5km put into operation.

The current state of the transportation system has led to a serious imbalance between supply (system capacity) and demand (transportation demand, with the main proportion being private transportation, especially motorized transportation by motorbike and car).

"If there is no improvement, the city will face a more serious situation, gradually reaching the 'traffic disaster' level that some major cities in Southeast Asia such as Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta… have already faced," Mr. Thao stated.

According to Mr. Thao, the consulting unit proposed 11 groups of solutions to solve the traffic congestion problem, including 116 specific measures and tasks.

Accordingly, the plan will propose long-term solutions regarding policy and infrastructure, focusing on improving public transportation, developing non-motorized transportation, parking, and controlling the operation of private vehicles.

Hanoi will also develop mechanisms and policies to control new vehicle registrations, limit and regulate the operation of private vehicles, and encourage people and businesses to participate in green transformation and reduce traffic congestion.

In addition to strategic solutions, the city will also implement urgent measures to address immediate traffic congestion, ensuring feasibility and effectiveness.

According to Mr. Thao, the unit has determined that the minimum funding required to implement the traffic congestion reduction project is approximately 1.4 million billion VND, equivalent to nearly 53 billion USD.

Specifically, the period from 2025 to 2030 is estimated at approximately VND 569,040 billion (~USD 21.6 billion), with urban railway investment accounting for 57.1% and road infrastructure accounting for 37.8%.

The estimated investment for the period 2031-2035 is approximately VND 828,068 billion (~USD 31.4 billion), with urban railway investment accounting for 79.2% and road infrastructure accounting for 17.6%.

PHAM TUAN

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ha-noi-can-53-ti-usd-de-xu-ly-un-tac-giao-thong-20251021232413998.htm