Qualified uber cars

Workers set up a car ban pole on Giảng Võ Street, Hà Nội. - Photo zing.vn Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội has decided to ban Uber and Grab cars on 13 streets during rush hours in an effort to tackle increasing traffic jams. The city’s Department of Transport has, so far, installed signs prohibiting taxis and nine-seater commercial cars and smaller ones, including those of popular transportation networks Uber and Grab, on nine out of 13 streets. The ban is due to go into effect from Thursday. Accordingly, commercial cars will not be allowed to run between 6 and 9am and from 4.30 to 7.30pm. The streets on which the cars are banned are Hoàng Hoa Thám, Mai Xuân Thưởng, Giảng Võ and Láng Hạ, as well as Lê Văn Lương, Trường Chinh, Khâm Thiên and Hàng Bài, in addition to Phủ Doãn, Xuân Thủy, Cầu Giấy, Giải Phóng and the Chương Dương Bridge on the lane from Long Biên District to the city centre. Department director Vũ Văn Viện said the ban was aimed at reducing the … [Read more...] about Uber, Grab cars banned on 13 streets

With more than 26,000 taxis, HCM City’s traffic congestion has worsened in recent years. – VNA/VNS Photo Viet Nam News HCM CITY – Stand on just about any sidewalk in downtown HCM City and you can’t fail to see an oncoming stream of taxis, a welcome sight for passengers during rush hour and rainy days, but quite a nuisance for many others. Some local residents and officials say the explosion of taxi services in recent years is contributing to traffic congestion, which has become increasingly worse. As of 2016, there were a total of 11,060 traditional taxis and 15,300 app-based taxis, double the number that city officials had previously targeted. Traffic is often so bad around the city that it’s uncommon for a resident to go for more than a day without struggling to wriggle through crowded streets at any time of the day. Adding to the congestion is the daily flush of vehicles that enter and leave the city from neighbouring provinces. Though the city’s … [Read more...] about Are taxis making HCM City’s traffic worse?

To make sharing economy really fair By Nguyen Quang Binh Soon after the first cars of the ride hailing service Uber started running in Vietnam’s key cities in 2014, this new type of transport quickly reigned supreme - PHOTO: THANH HOA The author of this article believes the sharing economy is the future of global prosperity. Still, it is necessary to pinpoint its shortcomings and remedy them. Soon after the first cars of the ride hailing service Uber started running in Vietnam’s key cities in 2014, this new type of transport quickly reigned supreme. It rallied supporters and faced opponents as well. So far, this business model has developed healthily, attracting both cars and motorcycles offering the services of already well-known brands such as Grab, GoViet, Be and Emddi. It is difficult to know exactly how many members there are in these fleets of “app-based taxis and motorbike taxis.” However, it is absolutely sure that the new business holds a powerful appeal … [Read more...] about To make sharing economy really fair

An overturned light truck on the approach to Bình Triệu Bridge in HCM City’s Thủ Đức District. — VNA/VNS Photo Mạnh Linh Viet Nam News HCM CITY — The chairman of HCM City People’s Committee Nguyễn Thành Phong instructed the municipal Department of Transport and relevant authorities to make studies for banning all light trucks during the day time in an effort to ease traffic congestion. “This is a necessary solution because traffic congestion is happening throughout the day, not only during peak hours, especially at the city’s enterences, major roads, Tân Sơn Nhất Airport and Cát Lái Port,”  Phong said at a Friday meeting to review traffic and safety for the first six months of this year. “Relevant authorities must continue to properly guide traffic routes, install more traffic lights, and arrange traffic police to ease traffic congestion,” he added. Phong also asked authorities to speed up projects to collect car parking fees, to set up walking streets in downtown and … [Read more...] about HCMC to ban light trucks in daytime

Energy saving lights used to decorate the Rồng (Dragon) bridge in Đà Nẵng. The central city has been named national green city by the World Wide Fund for Nature’s One Planet City Challenge programme. — VNS Photo Lê Lâm Viet Nam News ĐÀ NẴNG — Đà Nẵng City has been given the title of National Green City 2017-18 by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)’s One Planet City Challenge programme, making it onto a list of 21 cities from around the world. Vice chairman of the city’s people’s committee, Nguyễn Ngọc Tuấn, said the award was a tribute to the city’s endeavours over past decades to commit to sustainable development. Đà Nẵng, along with other cities in Việt Nam including Huế, Hội An and Đông Hà, entered the One Planet City Challenge programme in 2017 to show how cities can become hubs for creativity, ambition and innovation in dealing with climate change. The four cites qualified out of 132 metropolises from 23 countries, but Đà Nẵng was finally selected for the … [Read more...] about Đà Nẵng named green city of the year in Việt Nam

ACV proposed as key investor for TSN airport’s terminal project By Le Anh Cars arrive at a domestic terminal of Tan Son Nhat International Airport in this file photo. The Ministry of Transport has proposed four investment plans to build terminal T3 at the airport - PHOTO: LE ANH HCMC – The Ministry of Transport recently presented to the Government four investment options for building passenger terminal T3 at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC for approval, touting Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) as the project’s key investor after the advantages and drawbacks of each option were assessed. The four investment options involve assigning ACV, the airport operator, to execute the project using its own capital; tapping the State budget; establishing an economic organization to invest in the project; and running the project under the public-private partnership (PPP) format. The ministry in the first option stated that ACV is a 95.4% State-owned enterprise … [Read more...] about ACV proposed as key investor for TSN airport’s terminal project

Bamboo against plastic By Derek Wells Bong, a few days after the opening - PHOTOS: COURTESY OF DEREK WELLS The story of Bong, the bamboo fish built to protect Danang’s beach from plastic waste. Quite a few recent works of art have been created—and often gone viral—in response to the global problem of environmental pollution. Many of these, such as Von Wong’s Strawpocalypse installation in HCMC, recycle waste materials in order to raise awareness, but fewer have actively sought solutions to the waste disposal problems they highlight. Recently, a group of expat and Vietnamese volunteers in the coastal city of Danang were inspired by the concept of combining message and functionality to create Bong, a large bamboo sculpture in the shape of a fish in the busiest area of the city’s famous My Khe Beach. Bong serves as both an awareness-raising work of art and a practical means to alleviate littering and give visitors to the beach a fun way to help clean it up. The story … [Read more...] about Bamboo against plastic

President Trần Đại Quang visits Koganei Seiki Company Ltd in Gunma Prefecture where 39 Vietnamese engineers work. — VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sáng Viet Nam News TOKYO — President Trần Đại Quang kicked off his State visit to Japan on Tuesday afternoon with a visit to Gunma prefecture, where about 7,000 Vietnamese people are living. At a reception for Gunma prefecture’s Governor Masaaki Osawa, Quang said he appreciated that Osawa’s selected Việt Nam as the first country to visit after he was re-elected Governor of Gunma in 2015. He called on Gunma to enhance co-operation with Vietnamese localities in order to effectively utilise the potential of both sides by increasing people-to-people exchanges and stepping up collaboration in tourism and investment, especially in high-tech agriculture, farm produce processing and preserving industry, and manufacturing and supporting industries. The President also suggested Gunma prefecture receive more Vietnamese trainees and … [Read more...] about President Quang visits Japan’s Gunma prefecture on State visit