On Mai Chi Tho street, long queues of cars and trucks stretched for nearly a kilometer heading towards the intersection with Hanoi Highway.
Photo by Quynh Tran
Hoang Dung, an employee of the Youth Volunteer Public Service Company, stood in the middle of container trucks regulating traffic on Mai Chi Tho Street.
"Today the congestion happened from 2 p.m., instead of the usual peak hours," Dung said.
Photo by Quynh Tran
A road leading to Long Thanh Expressway in Ho Chi Minh City was backed up for 4 km.
Photo by Quynh Tran
An emergency vehicle drove in the motorbike lane on the road leading to Long Thanh Expressway.
Photo by Quynh Tran
At 4:30 p.m., the Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong expressway, which connects Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta, was heavily congested for more than 2 km.
Lines of vehicles moved at a snail’s space.
Photo by Dinh Van
On National Highway 1, traffic jams also occurred at the section from the Vo Van Kiet intersection towards the Mekong Delta.
Traffic police were mobilized at intersections along this route to regulate traffic and keep order, especially to make sure vehicles travel in their correct lanes.
After leaving the Pouyuen industrial park in Binh Tan District, Minh Huy drove his wife and children back to Dong Thap Province in the Mekong Delta for three-day holiday.
He said it took around five hours to get home because of the crowded roads, instead of the usual 3.5 hours.
Photo by Dinh Van
At 4 p.m., lines of vehicles stretched for more than a kilometer at the intersection of Thang Long Boulevard, Khuat Duy Tien and the elevated Ring Road 3.
This section of Hanoi’s southern gateway is often gridlocked before and after national holidays, especially for the Tet Lunar New Year Festival, which will occur in February 2024.
This year's Gregorian New Year holiday lasts from December 30 to January 1, 2024, allowing migrants to return their home to visit families.
Photo by Huy Manh
Line of vehicles were stuck for more than 500 meters along Giai Phong Street as they inched towards Hanoi’s southern gateway at 5 p.m.
Photo by Huy Manh
In contrast to the crowded scene on streets, the atmosphere was quite gloomy at Nuoc Ngam and Giap Bat bus stations at 4 p.m.
There were no long queues at ticket offices like last year.
"I arrived late but luckily there was still available seats. In previous years, if I didn’t book tickets in advance, I couldn’t go home," said Thai Linh, who picked up a bus at Nuoc Ngam Bus Station to return his home in Vinh City (Nghe An Province, north-central Vietnam).
However, by 5 p.m., the number of travelers at Giap Bat bus station had begun to increase.
Tran Manh Ha, deputy director of the bus station, estimated that the number of passengers for this New Year’s is expected to increase by nearly 300% compared to normal days.
Photo by Giang Huy
Traffic chaos in Hanoi and HCMC on Dec. 29, 2023. Video by staff reporters
