Proposal to adjust the time limit for vehicles
According to the draft being consulted by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, cargo cars, specialized vehicles, tractor-trailers and trailer trucks with a tonnage of up to 1 ton will be banned from circulating in the inner city during two peak hours from 6am-9am and 4pm-8pm. For vehicles over 1 ton, the restricted time lasts from 6am to 10pm.
The scope of application is within the ring roads of Do Muoi - Le Duc Anh - Le Kha Phieu (Old National Highway 1) - Nguyen Van Linh - Phu My bridge - Vo Chi Cong - Dong Van Cong - Mai Chi Tho - Vo Nguyen Giap - Hanoi Highway.
Compared to current regulations, the biggest change is the reduction of the control threshold from 2.5 tons to 1 ton. This means that a series of capital receiving vehicles operating normally in the inner city will be more restricted.
Mr. Bui Van Quan - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Cargo Transport Association - proposed that it is necessary to adjust the time limit for trucks on corridor routes to suit the actual traffic and production and business activities of enterprises.
According to Mr. Quan, in fact, peak hours in Ho Chi Minh City mainly concentrate from 5 pm to 7 pm, after this time, traffic density has decreased significantly. Therefore, allowing cargo trucks to circulate earlier will help transport businesses and production units optimize operating productivity, limiting the situation of vehicles having to wait for a long time.
For the morning time frame, the Association proposes to adjust the limited ending time from 9:00 AM to 8:30 AM. Although only a 30-minute difference, this is considered a "golden time frame" for goods circulation activities. This change will help industrial parks and factories be more proactive in arranging transport routes, ensuring production progress and delivery of goods.
In the context of e-commerce and rapid delivery demand increasing sharply, the tightening of trucks under 1 ton is also forecast to affect inner-city delivery operations. Businesses may be forced to increase the number of night trips or switch to smaller vehicles, leading to logistics costs.
A transportation expert said that there needs to be commodity transshipment centers or modern urban logistics systems attached.
Research on traffic toll collection models
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Trang - Director of Sen Ngoc Cooperative - said that most international tourists and group tourists currently use cars with 29 seats or more. Meanwhile, the center of Ho Chi Minh City is concentrated with large hotels, museums, relics and famous attractions.
If large vehicles are banned from entering the center, businesses will be forced to divide the group of passengers into many small vehicles for transit. This significantly increases the cost of car rental, fuel and personnel," Ms. Trang said.
Sharing the same view, Mr. Le Trung Tinh - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Passenger Car Transport Association - said that the ban should only apply to sleeper buses, instead of all passenger cars with more than 29 seats.
Mr. Tinh said that the 29-seater car line is currently widely used in Ho Chi Minh City, serving tourism needs, picking up and dropping off students and transporting organizations.
Instead of absolutely prohibiting, the city can study a toll collection model for traffic into the center to both regulate traffic and generate revenue" - Mr. Tinh proposed. Regarding the scope of restriction, Mr. Le Trung Tinh said that it should only be concentrated in the core area of the center.
From the perspective of urban planning, Dr. Vo Kim Cuong - former Chief Architect of Ho Chi Minh City - agreed with the policy of limiting passenger cars and trucks into the inner city to reduce congestion and improve the living environment. However, he noted that the city must solve the transit problem if it wants to limit large vehicles.
When banning passenger cars from entering the inner city, there needs to be an effective shuttle system by bus, metro or electric car from major bus stations such as the new Eastern Bus Station and the Western Bus Station to the center" - Dr. Vo Kim Cuong said.
Mr. Le Truong Hien Hoa - Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism - said that limiting passenger cars will help the inner city become more open, creating conditions for the development of pedestrian spaces and night economy.
According to him, Ho Chi Minh City is promoting many community tourism models, pedestrian streets, food streets and nighttime cultural activities in the central area such as Nguyen Hue, Bui Vien.
Reducing large-sized passenger cars will help the urban space become more open, favorable for the development of pedestrian streets and nighttime economic activities" - Mr. Hoa assessed.
For many years, Ho Chi Minh City has continuously restricted large trucks and passenger cars from entering the inner city to reduce congestion and traffic accidents. Since 2023, the city has banned sleeper buses from entering the central area from 6am to 10pm.
Representatives of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction said that traffic adjustment is being studied in the context of the city implementing many large infrastructure projects such as metro, bridges, roads and civil works, in order to limit congestion and reduce impact on people and businesses.
