Vietnam needs to adjust work hours to stagger rush hour traffic, prevent gridlocks

The main reason is that during rush hour everyone leaves work at the same time. Bad weather, like heavy rain and flooding, increases traffic, causing severe congestion.

Though expanding public transport, improving infrastructure and upgrading drainage systems are already under way, they will take time to deliver results and, besides, are costly.

In the meantime traffic jams persist, and feasible solutions are needed to tackle this problem.

One key approach could lie in reducing rush-hour traffic.

The government can do this in two ways: encouraging the public to avoid peak hours and staggering work schedules.

I have used Waze for years, a free app that estimates travel times based on traffic, road conditions and data history and helps users adjust their commute to avoid peak hours.

For example, when traveling from District 1 to District 12, Waze shows routes and travel times based on when you leave. A 5 p.m. trip might take 90 minutes, but only 45 if you wait until 7 p.m.

This allows those without family obligations, like me, to stay back at work or sit in a café instead of rushing into traffic.

Waze collects real-time data on traffic conditions, accidents, and construction.

With timely updates, users can change routes, adjust travel times or find a nearby restaurant or café.

In addition to individual choices, HCMC and Hanoi could consider flexible working hours, especially during the rainy season, to spread out traffic.

Letting employees work from home a few days a week would reduce the number of vehicles on the road and improve worker well-being, especially in bad weather.

Offering one or two flexible WFH days could attract younger workers, particularly from Gen Z.

Businesses can stagger work hours and adjust staff schedules.

Heavy traffic jam at Hang Xanh intersection in HCMC, Oct. 8, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/An Khuong

Rush-hour traffic jams happen even in cities with more advanced infrastructure, not just in Vietnam.

Countries like the U.K., Australia and Finland have adopted flexible work hours to reduce congestion.

Today laptops, high-speed Internet and cloud technology make it easy for people to work from anywhere.

In a survey of Melbourne’s 10 largest companies, 58% of employees said they could complete at least half their work remotely, and 30% said 80% or more could be done from outside the office.

After the pandemic, many companies in Singapore let employees choose their working hours to avoid rush-hour traffic.

Young, single workers preferred starting at 10 a.m. and finishing at 8 p.m., while those with families often preferred an early 7 a.m. start and a 4 p.m. finish, following school drop-offs and pick-ups.

According to Vietnam’s General Statistics Office, in 2023 workers aged 15-24 accounted for 39.9% of the urban workforce while the average age of people’s first marriage was 27.

Therefore, tweaking the work hours for this young, single demographic could ease rush-hour traffic.

These measures will improve traffic and boost productivity and employee satisfaction.

A PwC study found that 83% of employers and 71% of employees prefer remote work, with 52% of managers also reporting significant increases in productivity with flexible hours.

I want to emphasize that these are immediate, short-term solutions that do not apply to all agencies or jobs.

However, they will be effective for businesses with suitable work structures and help reduce rush-hour traffic.

Long-term solutions include developing public transport like subways and buses, improving sidewalks, building pedestrian bridges, decentralizing the population, relocating universities to satellite cities, and limiting personal vehicles.

*Trinh Phuong Quan is an architect.