Comprehensive Strategies for Urban Traffic and Urban Transport and integrative Implementation –

1. Comprehensive Strategies for Urban Traffic and Urban Transport and integrative Implementation – Requirements for a sustainable urban development in Vietnam 1. Urban traffic and socio-economic development 2. Some facts about urban traffic in Hanoi and HCMC 3. Observations of traffic behavior and of safetyawareness 4. Negative impacts of the current traffic situation 5. Requirements for a comprehensive urban traffic strategyand integrative implementation

2. 1. Urban traffic and socio-economic development The Socio-Economic Development Strategy 2011-2020 formulates a vision for the next decade to facilitate the country’s development into an industrialized nation. But the economic development has to change to a sustainable growth. In 2010 MoC made the conclusion: “Vietnam’s urban development may have been fast during the past 15 years, but it is far from sustainable … the development of roads, power and water reticulation, drainage systems, solid waste treatment and provision of green spaces and social services had been neglected”. (VN News 31/12/2010) “Rapid and sustained growth is the guiding philosophy. If this strategy will be implemented effectively the country can enter in a new era of sustainable development.” (PM Dung, in: VN News 3/8/2010) It will be a big challenge to implement “Sustainability“ as traffic guideline under an ongoing rapid economic growth and under the big demand to upgrade traffic infrastructure, because of many existing problems and negative impacts of urban traffic. But facing the threat through climate change for Vietnam sustainable urban traffic has to be realized despite a fast growing economy and an ongoing industrialization.

3. 2. Some facts about urban traffic in Hanoi and HCMC 1. Vietnam has the highest per capita motorbike ownership in the world. Vietnam is for motorbike producers the fourth largest market worldwide. In the last five years 2.5 to 3 million motorbikes were sold every year. 3.7 million motorbikes were registered in the expanded territory of Hanoi in 2009 and about 3 million in HCMC. (Tramoc, 2010) 2. The pressure on transport rises in Vietnam. After rapid replacement of bicycles by motorbikes in the last decade now prosperouspeople move to cars especially in big cities. This leads to more urban traffic jam. 3. In Hanoi in peak hours inner-city-traffic speed of cars and buses is much slower (15 km/h) than of motorbikes (18-20 km/h). (Hai, 2010) 4. A Do-nothing-scenario for Hanoi forecasts that the daily average travel speed will decrease further dramatically. The speed will decrease from 26 km/h in 2005 to 9.4 km/h in the year 2020. (Iwata, 2010)

4. The modal split e.g. of a strategic point in Hanoi’s inner-city traffic shows that the number of cars increased between 2002 and 2010 from 5% to 8 %.In the same time the motorbikes increased from 72% to 78%. Bicycles decreased from 9% to 2% and were replaced by Motorbikes. Modal Split 2002 and 2010 in Kim Ma Street, Hanoi (Musil, Molt: 2010) My hypothesis:For the next decade we have to deal with the fact that the Vietnamese society will be still dependent on motorbike. = This in mind we have to find solutions for sustainable urban traffic even with bikes!

5. 3. Traffic behaviorand lack ofawareness in roadsafety Driving in the wrong direction is very common Red light will be ignored often (Fotos Bartscher, Bose: 2007) In many streets is no space for pedestrians on the sidewalk because it’s full of parking cars and motorbikes All goods - even dangerous ones – will be transported by motorbike

6. In rush hours it is very common that cars are using the lanes for motorbikes and motorbikes evade and drive over the sidewalks. From the view of an European expert traffic behavior of Vietnamese people seems to be not very disciplined. There is a very common principle of “try and let go”: I go in my direction. I take the space I need – before someone else will do so. From my point of view this behavior comes to a limit in a traffic system that becomes more and more fast and automatically controlled. (Bose: 2010)

7. Road trafficaccidents in Vietnam 1997- 2008 There is a significant decrease of serious injury since 2002 and a further decrease since implementation of obligatory helmet use in 2007. But there are still a high number of traffic fatality. Vietnam has still the third highest rate of road fatality per capita in South East Asia. Despite of many programs peoples awareness in traffic safety is very limited. Traffic injuries and fatalities of poor people are 10times higher than of others. (Le Minh Chau, 2006) In the first half of the year 2010 three hundred fatal accidents happened at railway crossings all over Vietnam. Beside only 15% of level crossings nationwide are manned or have alarm systems the main reason for accidents are reportedly impromptu crossings and reckless crossing of rail track by many vehicle drivers. (VN News 2/8/2010)

8. 4. Negative impacts of the current traffic situationthrough lack of implementation and monitoring Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and Ministry of Transport declare that air pollution is an urgent issue and the mechanisms for monitoring and controlling is limited and “transport activities are the leading cause of air pollution in urban areas of Vietnam, accounting for 70% of the total”. (VN News 13/9/2010+11/6/2011 ) A survey in 2007of Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources which measured vehicle emissions after starting without moving showed that more than half of the checked motorbikes in Hanoi and HCMC failed the inspection. (VN News 13/9/2010) The Government has ordered 60,000 unsafe old buses off the road. But 21,000 of them are still carrying passengers throughout the whole country mostly in remote areas. (VN News 27/7/2010) 80% of the recently offered motorbike helmets did not meet national standards. Despite this is obviously the administration says that they cannot do anything to prevent the production und the sale of these helmets.(VN News 2/8/2010+ 5/2011).

9. Negative impacts through lack of implementation in public transport Planning for Metro Lines in HCMC since 10 years (HCMC Planning Exhibition 2005) Proposal for future UMRT Network in HCMC(UPI-HCMC, Nikken Sekkei, Study of the HCMC Master Plan up to 2025, presentation 15/1/2007) Since many years there are plans for new public transport systems. But adaption of the systems on the local needs and realization are insufficient. There is a big gap between plans and implementation.

10. Accessiblity and traffic quality Economic efficiency Air quality Noise and vibration Accidents Loss of living space Natural habitats Global climate change Negative impacts of an increasing motorisation in many Asian Cities in: Jakarta (Swiss contact foto competition 2002) Since many years the transportation sector is the fastest growing sector in terms of greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries. (GTZ 2005) Old Quarter Hanoi 16 of the most polluted cities worldwide are Chinese cities (GTZ 2005)

11. The current situation of urban traffic and transportation in Hanoi be described by experts If Hanoi doesn’t develop quality, high-volume public transportation systems the city will slowly grind to a standstill over the next decade.(A transport specialist of ADB, in ThanhNien 1-7/4/2011) : In Hanoi, the risk of soon becoming a city completely paralyzed by traffic congestion is high. … Hanoi is still a motorcycle depended city. The roads are close to the limits of capacity. The very heavy traffic is only possible because the high percentage of motorcycles.(Two foreign transport planner who have worked in Hanoi for many years, 2011). What’s to do in this situation? What kind of strategies and measures could prevent the inner city traffic collaps and promote sustainable urban traffic?

12. 5. Requirement of an sustainable urban traffic strategyUpgrading public transport - the example BRT BRT started in South American cities: in Curitiba, Quito and Bogota. BRT also runs in many Asian cities successfully. BRT Jakarta • Critical points remain: • the safety at crossings with individual traffic (because insufficient safety awareness) • the travel speed and • the technical solutions for access of passengers BRT Tehran

13. Upgrading public transport - the example Tram /Sky Train / Monorail • There is a revival of tram-systems in Europe. These systems could be better integrated in the existing urban environment than LRT systems like the Sky Train. The critical point of tram-systems remains the crossings with MoT. The widely spread lack of safety awareness in the Vietnamese society will be a problem for all high automatically running systems. TRAM in Strasbourg (France) and in Dublin (Ireland) ‘Sky train’ Bangkok

14. Example Metro and LRT • Metro Systems and LRT Systems are efficient but also very expensive. One line alone will not solve the traffic problem. You need a well connected system of all kind of public transport LRT and Regional Rail Hamburg Metro System Moscow LRT Tokyo

15. Rapid Transit Network in Hanoi until 2020 (based on thedecisionNo 90/2008) • Important for implementation and acceptance of a Rapid Transit System is: (beside many other aspects) • Quick realization of some RT lines and co-ordination and technical integration of the different RT-systems • short transfer walking distances for passengers at intersections with other RT lines and with buses • Well coordinated schedules to reduce waiting time at transfer points • one ticket and one price system • Affordable prices • A quick door to door journey is important for acceptence (Musil, Molt: 2010)

16. Regulations and Restrictions Beside all improvements and new transport systems there will be a need for regulations and restrictions for motorized traffic in Vietnamese city centers. Congestion charging London Electronic Road Pricing Singapore Some of the Road Toll Systems failed other are successful. Wheel clamp in Dublin

17. Proposal: Electro-bikes as replacement for motor-bikes in inner cities Vietnam is one of the world’s most important markets for motorbikes. So changing the drive units is possible by a long time announcement in advance by the government. In the inner city of Kunming and in other big Chinese inner cities only Electro-Scooters or Electro-Bikes are allowed. City center of Kunming (Bose 2010) Electro-bikes would reduce noise and air pollution in the Vietnamese cities. Theywill reduce traffic speed, road accidences and greenhouse gas emission as well.

18. New environment friendly traffic elements and new public transport systems could improve Vietnamese City Centers (Bose: 2009) Express Boat Service Bangkok – a possible additional public transport system for many Vietnamese cities Pedestrian StreetNanjing Road Shanghai

19. Walking Area –plan for Hanoi’s Old Quarter The decision of the Hanoi’s People Committee in June 2011 to ban all vehicles around the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake in order to turn streets in this area into walking streets is an important step to protect and develop the historical urban structure of the heart of Hanoi with its 36 craftsman and traders alleys, which are unique all over Asia. I hope this plan can be realized successfully in this large area. There will be different needs, desires and interests of tradesman and residents. I think it is necessary to involve them in the process of realization. Often a problem will be solved through some adjustments. A big chance would be wasted if the pilot project fails. From my point of view somehow accessebilty for residents and traders should be provided – maybe part-time or/and only by electro bikesand electro cars. Map of the 36 specialized Craftsman and Traders Alleys (German Embassy and Goethe Institute, Hanoi)

20. The Experience of Hoi An: Walking Streets promote electro-bikes Electro Bikes Hoi An (2010) Electro Bike Hoi An (2010) Everyday the old quarter of Hoi An disallows motorized vehicle including motorbikes at three times a day for 3 hours each. Electro bikes are allowed at that time. So light electro bikes are very common in the old quarter. At the moment Hoi An has the highest electro bike rate per capita of all Vietnamese cities. This example shows: restrictions for motorized vehicles promote electro bikes. From my point of view Vietnam could allow only environment friendly Electro- Bikes in the inner cities of big towns in a few years, in case continuous power supply is given.

21. Integration of urban traffic and transport and land use The ongoing replacement of motorbikes through cars has a great impact on land use, on urban structure and on traffic volume. The historic compact urban structure of Vietnamese cities starts to disappear. Car use enforces suburbanization and disperse settlement structures. The recent discussions in Hanoi and in HCMC argue in different directions: In HCMC the proposal was made to limit the number of businesses in the city center to ease traffic congestion. From my point of view this proposal could not solve the problem. Traffic will be not reduced. Traffic will only be shifted.In Hanoi there have been strong opponents against the decentralization of the administrative center out of the inner city to Ba Vi District. From my point of view there is a need of relief strategies if the Capital want to grow and want to preserve its unique culture heritage it. E.g. Malaysia built sucsessfully its new administrative center Putrajaya 20km outside of Kuala Lumpur on the way to KLIA airport well connected with both by LRT. Some general remarks: - Compact cities have the shortest distances that means less traffic. - Compared with other South-Asian Cities the density in Vietnamese cities is not very high.- Decentralization could be a relief strategy. But first an environmental friendly mass rapid transit system has to be build which is affordable for the people, otherwise traffic becomes worse.

22. Conclusions • Urban traffic and urban transport are key issues for the future economic, social development and for environmental and climate protection in Vietnamese cities. • There is a need of comprehensive/cross-sector strategies and integrative well co-ordinated measures for all traffic modes considering economic, social and environ-mental aspects. The implementation of large cross-sector projects requires new kinds of co-operative institutional forms between the involved administrative units e.g. : Time-limited cross-sector work groups consist of members of all involved administrative units with only one task to realize the project in a comprehensive and integrative manor. • Not one stand-alone high-tech system is the solution. One measure cannot solve the traffic congestion in Vietnamese cities. Only well co-ordinated strategies and an integrated mixture of measures can upgrade the situation. • I want to stress on four points • New priorities of traffic guidelines: first avoid or reduce traffic, second shift the mode and third make the remaining traffic well-tolerated. • Building up an environment-friendly urban transport system with effective integration of other modes. • Restriction measures for cars and motorbikes and improvement for non-motorized traffic. • Reduce the gap between plans and regulations and promote the change the traffic behavior and awareness of traffic safety of Vietnamese people.

23. E Rapid and sustained economic growth needs rapid development of public transport and restrictions for motorized traffic in the inner cities. In historic growthed cities with limited space not every traffic demand can be satisfied. The public space - streets and places have to fulfill many different functions for a lively city. THANK YOU – CAM ON

25. One of various forms to organize a comprehensive and integrated urban planning project with many cross-sector aspects in municipal administrations in Germany Time-limited interdisciplinary project team. Members will be put together of all relevant departments.The team works under supervision and under decision of the mayor. Mayor/City Council Departments Divisions Sub- Divisions