Damage of more than 3,000 billion VND/year due to pollution
After the merger, Ho Chi Minh City has about 14 million people, with 1.28 million registered cars and 11.5 million registered motorbikes and mopeds. Vehicles using fossil fuels still account for a large proportion.
About 61.06% of cars in circulation were produced before 2017, belonging to the group with emission standards below Level 4; about 51.18% of motorbikes and mopeds belong to the group below Level 2.
Meanwhile, green vehicles account for a modest proportion. Electric cars account for about 10.6% of the total number of cars, electric buses over 60% of the total number of buses, electric motorbikes about 1.5% of the total number of motorbikes, mopeds and electric trucks only about 0.3% of the total number of trucks.
According to research by the Project on controlling traffic emissions in Ho Chi Minh City, road traffic contributes about 88% NOx, 99% CO, 79% SO2 and 88% dust to total traffic emissions. Economic damage related to air pollution is estimated at over 3,000 billion VND/year, equivalent to about 0.25% of GRDP.
If policies are not changed, greenhouse gas emissions from transportation are forecast to increase from 16.4 million tons of CO2 in 2025 to 17.7 million tons in 2030, an increase of 7.9%.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, the city aims to reduce 90% of the increased air pollution caused by transport activities by 2030. Therefore, developing public transport, controlling personal vehicles and promoting the transition to green vehicles are key solutions.
Pilot low-emission zone from 2027
To control emissions, Ho Chi Minh City proposes piloting low-emission zones (LEZs) from July 2027 in the core central area and Thu Thiem New Urban Area. The total pilot area is about 16.6km2, with more than 176,200 people. After two years, from the beginning of 2029, LEZs are expected to expand to Ring Road 2 area.
The control route is divided into groups of vehicles. From 2027, buses and three-wheeled garbage collection vehicles must use electricity or green energy when operating in LEZs. From 2028, technology motorbikes carrying passengers and shippers must also switch to electric vehicles.
Taxis from 2028 must meet Emission Level 5 standards when entering LEZs, before completely switching to electricity or green energy from 2030.
Trucks up to 1 ton from 2028 must use electricity or green energy. By 2035, all trucks must be converted.
For motorbikes and personal motorcycles, emission standard Level 3 will be applied from 2029, raised to Level 4 from 2030 and completely switched to electricity or green energy by 2035.
Personal cars apply Level 4 from 2028, raise to Level 5 from 2030 and complete the transition to electricity or green energy by 2035.
Thus, by 2035, most vehicles operating in LEZs must use electricity or green energy. Throughout Ho Chi Minh City, the goal of completing the conversion is set by 2040.
Nearly 35,000 billion VND is needed for the greening roadmap
Mr. Mai Van Thanh (38 years old), a technology motorbike driver operating in the central area of Ho Chi Minh City, agrees with the policy of switching to electric vehicles because he often clearly feels smoke and dust when driving all day. However, he believes that there needs to be appropriate support policies. "For technology drivers, vehicles are a means of livelihood. If they have to switch in a short time, the city needs sufficient support, simple procedures and low-interest installment loan policies to reduce cost pressure" - Mr. Thanh said.
Mr. Nguyen Van Tien (50 years old, Xuan Hoa ward) supports limiting high-emission vehicles in the central area, which is densely populated and often congested. "However, the city needs to develop a network of charging stations and convenient battery exchange cabinets; and at the same time have support policies to make electric vehicle prices suitable for income, prioritizing direct support for a part of the vehicle price," Mr. Tien said.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, currently the whole city has about 5,786 electric car charging stations, 2,010 electric motorbike charging stations and 5,705 motorbike battery exchange cabinets. However, about 74.8% of charging points are concentrated in urban centers, showing that infrastructure is not evenly distributed.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, the total need for additional state budget funds to implement policies is estimated at 34, 994 billion VND.
Of which, 2,811 billion VND is for investment and maintenance of bus stations, multi-functional parking lots, transit infrastructure, stops and connection points with public passenger transport.
About 14,050 billion VND is allocated to support vehicle conversion for transport businesses, individuals, households, technology drivers and three-wheeled garbage trucks; and invest in a vehicle management and monitoring system in LEZs, upgrade air monitoring and support initial emission testing for motorbikes and mopeds.
About 13,185 billion VND is for ticket price support and public passenger transport activities. In addition, 147 billion VND is for digital infrastructure, interconnected electronic tickets, smart parking lots, research and testing of new technologies.
After 2030, the city is expected to need an additional 4,815 billion VND to invest in automatic license plate recognition systems, toll gates, servers, software and databases to serve traffic management.
