Using more than 300 cameras to monitor vehicles entering LEZs
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction is seeking opinions on the Project on controlling emissions of vehicles in the area.
According to the proposal, from July 1, 2027, Ho Chi Minh City will pilot a low-emission zone (LEZ) in the core central area of about 930 ha and Thu Thiem New Urban Area. From 2029, the LEZ is expected to expand to Ring Road 2 area.
In this area, vehicles are classified, controlled and converted in stages to reduce vehicles using fossil fuels and improve air quality.
To monitor, the city plans to install automatic license plate recognition (ANPR) cameras at gateways, roads in and out of core areas, buffer zones and routes with high risk of violations, combined with signs determining LEZ boundaries.
The total demand is about 304 ANPR cameras, of which nearly 200 existing cameras managed by the Urban Traffic Management and Operation Center are utilized.
Camera data will be connected and compared with the vehicle registration database of the Police sector, registration, emission inspection and information on fuel and energy types. Through this, the system determines whether the vehicle is eligible to enter the LEZ or not.
The city plans to hire information technology services to operate the system, with an estimated cost of about 700 billion VND in 5 years from regular expenditures. When violations are detected, data is transferred to the Ho Chi Minh City Police for handling according to their authority.
In addition to LEZs, at gateways, it is also expected to arrange a vehicle control system connected to the intelligent transportation system (ITS) and the Traffic Operation Center, with a cost of about 6 billion VND.
No separate sanctions for vehicles violating LEZs
According to Ho Chi Minh City, the law currently does not have specific regulations on penalties for vehicles that do not meet emission standards but still enter LEZs.
The 2020 Law on Environmental Protection and Resolution 98/2023/QH15 are the basis for implementing emission control policies, but there are no specific regulations on signs and LEZ identification symbols.
QCVN 41:2024/BGTVT currently stipulates common prohibition signs for cars and motorbikes, but there are no auxiliary signs to identify vehicles according to fuel type or emission standards.
Therefore, in the initial stage, Ho Chi Minh City proposed handling according to the act of not complying with the signals and instructions of the signs specified in Decree 168/2024/ND-CP.
According to the plan, cars apply Clause 1, Article 6, motorbikes and mopeds apply Clause 1, Article 7 of the decree.
Notably, the city proposed the principle of "communication first, penalties later".
In the first 6 months, violating vehicles are only propagated and reminded, not yet sanctioned.
From the 7th to the 12th month, the fine is equal to 50% of the prescribed level, equivalent to 100,000 VND for motorbikes and 200,000 VND for cars.
After 12 months, the full penalty is expected to be 200,000 VND for motorbikes and 400,000 VND for cars. Violators may also have their driver's licenses deducted points.
In the long term, Ho Chi Minh City plans to study and submit to the City People's Council to supplement specialized sanctions for the act of bringing vehicles that do not meet emission standards into LEZs according to the mechanism of the Urban Development Law.
After the merger, Ho Chi Minh City has about 14 million people, with about 1.28 million cars of all kinds and 11.5 million registered motorbikes and mopeds.
