HANOI, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's capital city of Hanoi is expected to decide early next month to ban motorbikes in its urban districts from 2030.
The ban, which will be in place if a resolution on strengthening management over means of transport in Hanoi is adopted by the municipal legislative body in early July, local daily newspaper Tuoi Tre (Youth) reported on Monday.
"The motorbike ban will be prepared for a long time. We should develop synchronous infrastructure, including public transport development," the newspaper quoted Nguyen The Hung, vice chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, as saying.
Many experts and residents have agreed on the potential motorbike ban and made specific suggestions.
Nguyen Duy Son, who works at the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Hanoi should adopt a model applied in Beijing: allowing residents to rent bicycles conveniently via mobile phone applications and online payments. He also proposed Hanoi offer inexpensive metro and bus fares.
Nguyen Quang Toan from the Vietnamese Transport University said the capital city should call for investors to actively engage in building and accelerating construction of normal bus and bus rapid transit systems, and elevated railways.
"Now, the city's public transport can serve around 10 percent of demand for traveling. This rate should increase to 50-60 percent in the next 13-14 years to make the ban feasible," he was quoted by Yupik Tre as saying.
By the end of November 2016, Hanoi had over 5 million motorbikes.