Name: Đỗ Hoàng Mỹ Phượng

Class: DH17TA

Article: Prohibition of motorbike in city center

After two years of implementing a government resolution on traffic
safety, traffic accidents still kill 26 people and injure 81 others every
day.
With traffic safety not improving significantly, Deputy Prime Minister
Nguyen Xuan Phuc is pushing to impose a motorbike ban in major
cities. The idea has been proposed by several experts and has been met
by an equal amount of opposition.
At a meeting to review the resolution, Phuc said traffic safety remains an
"extremely complicated" issue despite many efforts from central and
local agencies.
"There should be detailed and breakthrough solutions, including a plan
to gradually ban motorbikes in big cities,"• he said, adding that Hanoi
and Ho Chi Minh City should improve public transport and limit the
number of private vehicles in the cities.
Vietnam has more than 37 million motorbikes and 1.6 million cars.
Among the population of 90 million, most adults use motorbikes as the
most common means of transport.
So far this year, traffic accidents have killed 7,812 people and injured
more than 24,300 others nationwide, according to the National Traffic
Safety Committee (NTSC). The number of people killed in traffic
accidents this year is already 123 higher than last year's total.
If Yangoon can do it...
Over the past weeks, VTC News has published articles by economist
Luong Hoai Nam, CEO of Air Mekong, that have criticized the
government for not banning motorbikes in big cities.

Nam said the NTSC proposed the ban two years ago, but the transport
ministry announced that there would be no such plan due to public
opposition.
"Avoiding a reconsideration of the ban will hinder development and
elongate the danger of traffic and poverty,"• he said.
Nam said public transport such as buses and trains needed to be
improved.
He said the idea was theoretically reasonable but argued that it would be
unfeasible in reality to develop more public transport before banning
motorbikes.
"Yangon banned motorbikes because it was able to resolve transport
demands despite the fact that its bus system is not so good,"• he said.
Banning motorbikes would also contribute to curbing air pollution and
closing unhygienic roadside eateries, he said.
"Leave modern and civilized urban areas with safer and cleaner traffic
system for future generations,"• he said.
There appears to be less opposition to the idea than there was when it
was first proposed 2 years ago.
A survey on VTC News attracted more than 27,000 respondents, 54
percent of which selected "there should be a plan to ban motorbikes
now."• Some 31 percent chose "only ban motorbikes when there are
alternative means of transport"• and only 14 percent opposed the ban
outright.
Criminal inaction
Nam said the victims of fatal traffic accidents are mostly motorbike
drivers: "We are guilty for that as long as motorbikes remain a dominant
means of transport."•
He criticized relevant agencies for being sluggish in implementing
traffic safety projects and achieving traffic safety targets.
"Tragic deaths on the street every day. Do something! What are you
waiting for?"• he said.
He said a motorbike ban in big cities would attract foreign and private
investment in public transport.
"It is estimated that Vietnamese people spend about US$5 billion a year
on motorbike purchases, repairs and gasoline. It is a significant amount
as the country's GDP is about $130 billion.
"Shifting from motorbikes to public transport will also save money
besides improving traffic safety and protecting the environment,"• he
said.
Flimsy feasibility
The idea of banning motorbikes in big cities has prompted wide
controversies because it will affect most families in Vietnam.
Nguyen Van Thu, former director of Transport Planning and
Management, said people should not think about banning motorbike in
the near future.
"Banning motorbike is a right step towards limiting private vehicles. But
it should be done in the distant future. It is just like a supplementary
food, it can cause shock if you use too much in a short time,"• he said.
Thu said Vietnam's big cities should reorganize traffic infrastructure
more logically to avoid motorbike congestion while improving public
transport systems before banning motorbikes.
Nguyen Hoang Hiep, deputy chairman of NTSC, said it would be
impossible to ban motorbikes quickly.
"It is impossible because of undeveloped economics, lack of
infrastructure and insufficient public transport,"• he said.
According to Hiep, 2020-2025 would be the right time to ban
motorbikes in big cities if Vietnam begins to improve public transport
infrastructure from now on.
Late urban zoning and tiny alleys that are accessible only by motorbikes
are problems that could take a long time to fix.
Former transport minister Ho Nghia Dung also said that tackling
motorbike problems was a tough job that could take several decades.
He said the motorbike boom was not a totally negative development
alongside economic growth and undeveloped infrastructure.
"Motorbikes are still contributing to social development, solving the
basic demands of many residents,"•he said. "But the excessive growth
of motorbikes in the country has caused more accidents and
gridlocks."•
"Motorbikes are still necessary for everyone in Vietnam,"•he said,
adding that he couldn't say when would be the right time for Vietnam to
ban motorbikes in big cities.
The fact is millions of people rely on motorbikes every day, and have
done so for decades.
But Nguyen Hoang Tien of the Hanoi Bar Association said he thought
that wasn't a big problem. He said that people all know the relevant risks
and harms of riding a motorbike, such as traffic accidents and air
pollution.
"When public transport is convenient enough, no one will be so stupid as
to face these risks."•

Essay : Methods governments could use to discourage the use of

private cars in the city centre.
Today, transportation is a problem for many countries in the world.
They always find solutions to reduce the number of vehicles participating in
traffic on the road, especially cars in some developed countries. The two
most widely applied measures are infrastructure investment and tax
application. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
The first is to mention the benefits of the people. Make sure that no
citizen wants to pay taxes on his or her transportation every month, or stop
charging stations to pay money. Instead, they expect the government to
invest more in transport facilities, widen roads, build modern transport
systems, and invest in public transport such as buses, subway to serve
people, reducing the number of private vehicles on the road will reduce
congestion and dust. Thus, it can be seen that investment measures are more
favored and satisfied by people than tax.
On the other hand, for the government, investment will consume a lot
of state budget. The government not only invests in every traffic, but also
many other issues such as education, health, politics, economy, diplomacy,
... If too much investment in traffic, other issues there will not be enough
funding to solve. Besides, the tax collection also helps to increase the
general fund of the country, serving other social issues such as providing
relief for people in flooded areas, helping poor families or scholarships for
pupils,… Moreover, taxes will also increase people's awareness and
responsibility for the use of transport. In other words, taxation helps a lot for
governments and general activities of the country as well as people's
consciousness.
In short, each measure has its own benefits and difficulties. The
government needs to combine both harmoniously and appropriately so that
the country can grow and still satisfy people. Besides, each person's
consciousness is also an important factor in solving the traffic problem.