Vietnam to ban gas-powered motorbikes in central Hanoi next year

[ad_1] Vietnam will ban fossil-fuel-powered bikes and mopeds within the coronary heart of Hanoi beginning in July 2026 in an effort to cut back air air pollution, state media reported on Monday, curbing the primary mode of transport for most of the metropolis’s 8 million residents.

Issued by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the directive applies to the realm inside the primary ring street round central Hanoi, dwelling to a lot of town’s enterprise exercise. The town has practically 7 million motorbikes and one million vehicles.

<img data-chromatic="ignore" alt="A man transports orchids on his motorcycle in Hanoi, Feb. 5, 2024." class="c-image" loading="lazy" src="https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/VBBJEPMUS5EGTCFKNHXWUXRFZI.JPG?auth=af5803fa1fcee001eac42bc062fd08c5713b897890263f25b484393b28fbfbec&width=800&height=533" srcset="https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/VBBJEPMUS5EGTCFKNHXWUXRFZI.JPG?auth=af5803fa1fcee001eac42bc062fd08c5713b897890263f25b484393b28fbfbec&width=274&height=182 274w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/VBBJEPMUS5EGTCFKNHXWUXRFZI.JPG?auth=af5803fa1fcee001eac42bc062fd08c5713b897890263f25b484393b28fbfbec&width=400&height=266 400w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/VBBJEPMUS5EGTCFKNHXWUXRFZI.JPG?auth=af5803fa1fcee001eac42bc062fd08c5713b897890263f25b484393b28fbfbec&width=768&height=511 768w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/VBBJEPMUS5EGTCFKNHXWUXRFZI.JPG?auth=af5803fa1fcee001eac42bc062fd08c5713b897890263f25b484393b28fbfbec&width=1024&height=682 1024w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/VBBJEPMUS5EGTCFKNHXWUXRFZI.JPG?auth=af5803fa1fcee001eac42bc062fd08c5713b897890263f25b484393b28fbfbec&width=1440&height=959 1440w" width="800" height="533"/> vietnam-motorcycle-ban A person transports orchids on his motorbike in Hanoi, Feb. 5, 2024. (AFP) Some residents say that the transfer will disproportionately influence low-income residents.

“It would have an effect on individuals who depend on motorbikes to earn a dwelling,” Nguyen Van Hung, who has spent three many years driving a motorbike taxi and now works with Seize, a ride-hailing app used extensively throughout Southeast Asia, instructed the Related Press. “How can individuals simply discard their autos?”

Others mentioned that the timeline for the change was too aggressive to make monetary sense for residents.

“The life cycle of a automotive lasts for a number of many years, not just some years or a couple of months,” Pham The Anh, an economics professor, wrote on his private Fb web page. “The coverage roadmap have to be introduced lengthy sufficient earlier than being utilized so that individuals can proactively select” their mode of transportation.

The Vietnamese authorities goals to switch gas-fueled motorbikes with electrical autos in what it says is an effort to chop air pollution and sort out local weather change. Native EV maker VinFast holds practically a fifth of the market share, based on the European Chamber of Commerce, however its share of the two-wheeler market continues to be small.