News Education Environment Traffic Crime

Swerving through Saigon traffic with new smart phone app

By Huu Cong January 19, 2017 | 01:24 am PT

Traffic jam on Tran Quoc Hoan Street, Tan Binh District. Photo by VnExpress.

Plan your route to avoid getting stuck in the city's congestion hot-spots.

A mobile app launched today is allowing Saigoneers access to up-to-the-minute traffic reports from all across Ho Chi Minh City.

The application, named TTGT TP HCM, was launched by the city's transport department, and allows users to get traffic updates before choosing a route and provides information about nearby parking lots.

The department said that data for the app is collected from 300 surveillance cameras installed along the city's streets.

The app is now available on App Store (for iOS devices) and Google Play (for Android devices).

In addition to the mobile app, the transport department has also launched a website at http://giaothong.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/ to give people access to traffic reports.

With around 12 million people, Ho Chi Minh City is looking at various methods to solve its severe traffic congestion, especially during rush hour.

The city is thinking about making some main streets one-way, building elevated roads and even banning private vehicles from downtown areas to ease congestion.

Statistic show that about 8.8 million motorcycles are currently running on just more than 4,000 kilometers of roads, not to mention private cars and bicycles. Nearly 4,200 new cars and 9,000 new motorbikes are registered every month, while public transport is limited to buses.