Traffic jams a daily nightmare on two roads slated for Hanoi motorbike ban

Every morning between 7 and 8:30 a.m. vehicles line up for kilometers on Nguyen Trai Street, one of the roads on which Hanoi is considering trialing motorbike restrictions. The same story repeats in the evening when people head for home from work.

Vu Van Vien, director of the city Department of Transport, said Nguyen Trai and Le Van Luong streets, through which the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line and a bus rapid transit (BRT) route run, have been selected for the motorbike restriction trial. They run parallel to each other in Thanh Xuan District on the outskirts, around seven kilometers west of Hanoi's center.

The traffic jam on the two streets is especially bad at intersections with lights. Vien said the department would not rush ahead with the pilot plan but carefully study it to ensure it is fully feasible and practicable.

The city would also gather public opinion during the pilot period, he said Monday.

Vehicles move at a snail’s pace under a section of the long-delayed Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro, which is finally slated to begin commercial operations next month.

Nguyen Trai Street has four to six lanes in either direction but since the lanes are not marked, utter chaos reigns there.

Le Van Luong used to have three lanes, but since last year one has been taken over by the BRT, and traffic jams are a common sight here.

Nguyen Thi Tuyen, who goes to work by motorbike through Le Van Luong Street every day, said she would have to catch three different buses to travel 10 kilometers (six miles) to her office if the ban comes in force, "which is really inconvenient."

During rush hour, motorbikes and cars encroach on the BRT lane.

Nguyen Tien Huong, a BRT driver, said it is difficult for buses to reach the designed speed of 30km per hour since they have to jostle with motorbikes.