VietNamNet Bridge – If roads in HCMC continue expansion, commuters will prefer using their vehicles instead of Metro Line No. 1, an economic expert said at a conference held on March 29 to discuss solutions to traffic congestion and accident reduction.

An elevated section of Metro Line No. 1 along Hanoi Highway is under construction. Experts have called for HCMC to find a new approach to solve traffic congestion – Photo: Anh Quan

Dr. Huynh The Du from the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program said HCMC should focus on developing public transport rather than road building and expansion. Reality has shown that when more bridges, roads and overpasses are built, there would be more vehicles and traffic congestion could be solved for a short term.

Du said Hanoi Highway should not be further expanded when the Metro Line No. 1 running from Ben Thanh Market in downtown HCMC to Suoi Tien Park in District 9 is put into use. “Traffic congestion on the highway will remain if it is not widened, and this will force people to use public transport,” Du said.

Regarding traffic congestion, Du said it is necessary to find a new approach to solve the chronic issue as the current solutions have not been effective.

“If we continue with the old approach, it is unlikely to solve the city’s traffic problem completely and congestion may last until 2045,” Du said.

According to Dr. Vu Anh Tuan from Vietnamese-German University, transport needs to be controlled comprehensively instead of limiting the use of private vehicles only.

Tuan said roads should not be expanded due to the increase in private vehicles. Instead, solutions like building roads or urban railways should be taken into account to see which one can help reduce traffic congestion.

Currently, traffic congestion in the city is not mainly caused by motorcycles and private cars but container trucks.

Le Duy Hiep, chairman of the Vietnam Logistics Business Association, said developing inland waterways is not included in HCMC’s solutions to reduce traffic congestion.

The container volume transported from inland container depots in HCMC to ports reached 1.8 million TEUs last year. If this huge cargo volume had been transported by waterway, many vehicles would not have been on the road, according to Hiep.

SGT