VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City People’s Committee has once again asked for the government’s permission to apply the electronic road pricing (ERP) policy, which was rejected by the Finance Ministry in late 2008.

HCM City authorities hope that the city can curb traffic jams thanks to the ERP system.

According to the HCM City authorities, the number of vehicles and traffic jams are increasing in the city and they consider the application of the ERP system and raising vehicle registration fees as effective measures to curb traffic jams.

Last October, the Finance Ministry didn’t agree with this proposal, saying that it was infeasible.

Electronic Road Pricing is an electronic system of road pricing based on a pay-as-you-use principle. Motorists are charged when they use certain roads during peak hours.

HCM City authorities also suggested that the Finance Ministry should raise vehicle registration fees in big cities, particularly in HCM City and Hanoi, and collect transport infrastructure use fees through parking services.

The city’s administration said that with a population of over eight million while the road area totals over 25,600sq.m, HCM City has to consider restraining its population from making traffic jams more serious.

The HCM City People’s Committee urged the Ministry of Public Security to research and submit to the government a scheme on conditions for registering for permanent residence in the city. Accordingly, to live in HCM City, people might have to have jobs, stable accommodations and certain diplomas.

EPR and increasing vehicle registration fees have been discussed for several years but they have not been applied yet. However, many transport experts say that this is the moment that HCM City has to make a decision to restrict personal vehicles.

“Restricting personal vehicles by collecting fees is necessary to prevent the city from wholesale traffic jams in 2010. However, it is necessary to do careful research on how to implement these policies,” said HCM City Bridge, Road and Port Association’s vice chairman Ha Ngoc Truong.

The HCM City administration assigned the HCM City Research and Development Institute to finish the research on the EPR project by the end of March 2009, but the institute asked for more time. 

VietNamNet/VNE