Hanoi plan to ban motorbikes by 2030 to combat pollution

City councillors say they want to wean Hanoi off motorbikes in favour of public transport.

Hanoi – a city of five million motorbikes – is planning on banning the popular two-wheeled transport by 2030.

The city council voted for the ban almost unanimously, hoping to unclog roads and reduce soaring levels of pollution.

The council has also promised to increase public transport so that half the population are using it by 2013, instead of the current 12%.

But some residents think it very unlikely the bikes will go for good.

Council officials decided to put “immediate management measures” in place after a report found the number of motorbikes in Hanoi was set to grow at an “alarming” rate. Some studies suggest there are already as many as 2,500 motorbikes per kilometre.

According to the non-governmental group GreenID, the city recorded 282 days of “excessive” levels of PM2.5, which is harmful to human health, last year.

But despite this, resident Ngo Ngoc Trai told the BBC he did not think the plan would work.

“The city is too crowded while public transport hardly exists,” he said. “For example, there is no underground system in Vietnam. Only in June did Hanoi pilot the first two-storey bus in some routes.

Source: Hanoi plan to ban motorbikes by 2030 to combat pollution – BBC News