From August 23 to September 4, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction is seeking opinions on the draft Decision of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee regulating the time and scope of operation of some types of vehicles transporting goods and passengers in the area.
According to the draft, the inner city scope is located within the ring of routes 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.
Cargo trucks and specialized vehicles with a tonnage of up to 1 ton are not allowed to circulate in the inner city area from 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM and from 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM daily.
Compared to the previous plan, the starting time for afternoon restrictions is adjusted 1 hour earlier, from 4 pm to 3 pm.
Cargo trucks, specialized vehicles, tractor trucks, and trailer trucks with a tonnage of over 1 ton are not allowed to circulate in the inner city area from 6 am to 10 pm daily.
Vehicles are still allowed to circulate on ring roads but are restricted when entering the inner area according to the prescribed time frame.
Some vehicles serving essential activities are still allowed to circulate in restricted areas, such as vehicles serving electricity, water, health, infrastructure repair, post and transporting some types of fresh food.
Compared to current regulations, the new draft is noteworthy in reducing the control threshold for trucks from 2.5 tons to 1 ton. This means that the scope of vehicles subject to restrictions will be expanded, affecting more cargo transport vehicles.
From January 1, 2028, the expected limited scope will be expanded, adding routes D2, D1.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction believes that up to this point, the ring roads have been fully invested, with cross-sections to meet vehicle traffic volume. Expanding the limited scope is also aimed at reorganizing traffic and reducing pressure on the inner city area.
In particular, Vo Nguyen Giap and Hanoi Highway routes are currently frequently overloaded and congested, affecting people's travel and socio-economic activities. Therefore, putting these routes into restricted scope is expected to contribute to reducing congestion and traffic accidents.
Not only trucks, the draft also proposes to restrict passenger cars with more than 29 seats from entering the inner city from 6 am to 10 pm daily. Previously, from 2023, Ho Chi Minh City banned sleeper buses from entering the inner city during this same time frame.
However, vehicles are still allowed to operate on some special routes connecting to inter-provincial bus stations such as Kinh Duong Vuong, National Highway 13.
Some cases are allowed to circulate in restricted areas, including vehicles picking up and dropping off officials, civil servants, public employees, laborers, workers, experts under contracts or pick-up and drop-off plans of agencies, organizations, businesses, industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones and production and business establishments.
Cars picking up and dropping off students, teachers, lecturers and people working at educational and training institutions under contracts, plans or pick-up and drop-off plans are also allowed.
In addition, vehicles serving conferences, political, cultural, sports, foreign affairs and activities organized or approved by state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations are also allowed to circulate.
The draft also proposes to ban motor vehicles and rudimentary vehicles from three wheels or more from circulating inside the inner city area. Notably, from January 1, 2027, this group of vehicles is expected not to be allowed to operate throughout Ho Chi Minh City during all hours.
The Department of Construction proposes that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee consider and issue a decision in September 2026.
