Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Dong highly valued HCMC’s efforts in reducing traffic congestion and accidents in the last few years. Specifically, there were 3,712 traffic accidents, 703 dead and 3,302 injured, a reduction of 624 cases, 24 dead and 727 injures compared to 2014. A total 32 cases of traffic congestion occurred in 2011, till Sep 2015, there was no especially serious traffic congestion (over 30 minutes) except 18 serious traffic jams.

He added although traffic congestion in HCMC has much improved but it remains risks of repetition due to some reasons: construction planning, unsynchronized investment on land use and traffic planning, weak traffic infrastructure, lacking of effective solutions on control of proliferation of personal vehicles, slow development of urban railway projects and BRT bus system, etc.

Mr. Dong stressed reduction of traffic congestion and accident requires many synchronous solutions including both urgent and long-term solutions. He suggested HCMC to do a good job in planning. From now to 2020, he said, the city need to develop public passenger trans-port systems and buses to meet from 25%-30% of traveling demands, controlling the prolife-ration of personal vehicles, applying advanced technologies in management, well exploiting current traffic infrastructure.

Mr. Le Van Khoa said urbanization is developing very fast, immigrants from other provinces to HCMC is increasing day by day plus continuous increase of private vehicles year by year, this will be a burden on urban traffic infrastructure. He expressed his hope that researchers, scientists, traffic experts, etc. will give practical ideas to HCMC and Department of Transport to build effective action plans on reducing traffic congestion and accidents in the period of 2016-2020.

Proposals

At the seminar, many solutions have been suggested. Assoc Pro, Dr. Ho Thanh Phong (International University) proposed that HCMC needs to urgently strengthen traffic capacity including: construction of Metro lines, re-organizing urban railways, bus, re-organizing traffic planning by modern operating methods, approving construction of smart traffic systems, strengthening endogenous technologies for a sustainable development

Dr. Vo Kim Cuong, former director of HCMC Department of Planning and Architecture sug-gested to well implement breakthrough programs including a program of reducing traffic con-gestion and accident, saying that it requires a change of thinking, creates a breakthrough in policies, especially financial policies.

Assoc Pro, Dr. Nguyen Van Hiep, HCMC University of Technology proposed to increase a tax increase of operation for various kinds of 4 wheel vehicles (except bus), tax increase should be applied to two wheel vehicles to reduce personal means and to develop public transportation means. He suggested to revise the Decree No 171/2013/ND-CP in the direction of increasing (even 3 folds) traffic fines for traffic violations accompanying by strengthening propaganda and regular education.

A group of Dr. Vu Anh Tuan from Viet-Duc University, Pro Dr. Manfred Boltze, Darmstadt University (Germany) said that traveling is the right of people and it should not be restricted. It is a common concept that solving traffic congestion, pollution or traffic accident needs a complete traffic infrastructure. However, no country in this world can be able to expand its traffic infrastructure to timely catch with the increasing demands of transport. It is time to get to a new concept that development of a suitable traffic infrastructure and comprehensive traffic management solutions replacing the concept of “reducing personal vehicles”

Dr. Vu Tuan Anh proposed a group of 10 solutions including: controlling transport demands; controlling selection of vehicles; opposing tax and fee to control transport demands; operating and exploiting a flexible traffic infrastructure; promoting new traveling services; applying smart traffic systems; paying a special attention to traffic safety and environmental pollution; making transparency of traffic information on traffic service quality and continuously improving it; providing enough capital sustainably, setting suitable mechanism framework to control multi-modal transport.
 

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