VietNamNet Bridge – Illegal parking, considered to be one of the main reasons behind serious traffic congestion in the capital seems an intractable problem, with increasing numbers of cars, poor infrastructure and lack of public awareness, said Rail and Road Traffic Police Department deputy head Dao Vinh Thang.

According to the police, 3,238 parking violations occurred last month, which was Viet Nam’s Traffic Safety month, accounting for 12.42 per cent of total traffic violations.

More than 1,800 cases have already been processed in just the first 15 days of this month, the department said, adding that the real figure could be higher.

Tran Ngoc Anh, head of the department’s Advisory Board, said there were 66 traffic black spots as of September, a decrease of 58 compared to last year.

"However, five new ones have just appeared, mostly in the narrow streets, and in locations with shopping centres and big supermarkets," Hai said, "The root cause is illegal parking."

"If authorities don’t promptly take action against such traffic violations, the problem will surely multiply," he added, "And there’s no doubt that traffic congestion remains a headache for Ha Noi."

Deputy chief inspector of the municipal Transport Department Tran Dang Hai said the fines of VND200,000-600,000 (US$11-33) plus tow truck costs that offenders had to pay for each violation was reasonable.

"But violations keep increasing, and some violators don’t even mind paying the fine as long as they can park their cars," said Hai.

"I would rather pay a fine instead of finding a parking place around here," said a driver fined on Hai Ba Trung street.

According to Hai, besides a lack of awareness about the laws, a shortage of parking lots - which meets only 30 per cent of demand - was another cause for increasing parking violations.

"The city’s land allotted for parking accounts for just 0.45 per cent of the total city’s area, while the international standard is 6 per cent," he noted, adding Ha Noi would need 93ha of parking spaces by 2020.

"The initial solution in my opinion is that enterprises and individuals should be given favourable conditions to invest in building public parking areas," Hai said.

Hai stressed that projects to build 14 outdoor and underground parking lots, which would be located in Dong Da, Hoan Kiem, Hoang Mai, Cau Giay, Gia Lam and Dong Anh districts with total area of more than 100,000sq.m, had been approved in March.

"I hope that the new parking lots will partially solve the problem," he said, "However, to create a long-term comprehensive transport plan for the city is urgently required."

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

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