Major transport problems in Ha Noi are summarized in 3 problems except environmental problems: first, increasing number of traffic accidents, second - traffic congestion in peak hours and third, low mobility, meaning lack of alternative transport mode. I have listed concrete countermeasures against these problems, in corporation with some experts in TDSI, ALMEC and JICA. We categorized these countermeasures into 4 sectors, infrastructures, traffic management, public transport services and users/vehicles. And we evaluated these countermeasures with these 4 criteria: necessity, time, cost and public acceptance. And we suggest priority countermeasures.

Of course we sometime have different evaluation, so each participant may have different opinion about evaluation and priority. There are other ideas about countermeasures to improve transport situation and some of the countermeasures are already implemented or planned to implement as Mr. Dung mentions. So first, to reduce increasing traffic accidents, the countermeasure is this - first, infrastructure: improve road conditions, for example: pavements, drainage network or something - the necessity for it is high and time is short, cost is low and public acceptance is high, so we select this as priority. Like this, redesign intersection - there're some roundabout intersections and we consider these roundabouts good and the line for stopping is in good place and this redesign of intersections is related to traffic management: separate traffic flow or install traffic signals and it should be done with other countermeasures. So we think it has priority. Compare with intersection redesign, introduction of flyover takes much cost and longer time, so we do not select it as priority. "Install safety facilities" means garage, street rides, overpasses for passengers. It maybe important but before them, we should do other countermeasures, so we don't choose it as priority.

I already explain separate traffic flow, it means motorbikes and cars or motorbikes and bicycles. It's very important to improve traffic conditions and install signals. In Ha Noi, many signals have been introduced in these 2 or 3 years, but it's not enough. So with redesign of intersections, traffic signals should be installed effectively. At the same time, the markings or traffic signs are not enough for drivers and pedestrians. The cost to implement traffic signs and markings is not so high and we can do immediately. And the most important countermeasure for traffic accident is strengthening traffic law management and improving license system. It is said that nearly half of the motorcycle drivers do not have driving license, but enforcement against non-license driving is the most important countermeasure to reduce traffic accident as well as against over speeding, encroaching opposing lanes, ignoring traffic signals and against no-helmet riding. Some Japanese doctors say 70% of fatalities is due to head injuries, so with helmets, fatalities will become very small. For users, improving driving manner and increasing public awareness of traffic safety are important, but it takes much time to improve this situation. So priority of this is very high but the result of this is not so early to become better. And strengthen vehicle inspection is very important but it takes cost and time to prepare this countermeasure.

About countermeasures for traffic congestion, I have marked some of them, such as introduction of many parking lots and construction of public transport infrastructures (railway/tram), increasing bus routes. It sometimes causes congestion without other countermeasures, so it means it should be done with other measures.

Widen existing inner city trunk road is very important but it takes long time, maybe longest time and public acceptance is sometimes low, some of those living along these streets don't like resettlement, so we should do day by day or year by year, but the priority is not so high as a countermeasure. Constructing new roads, ring roads or larger roads in suburban areas is ongoing. This countermeasure should also be carried out, but we don't select it as priority.

So for traffic congestion, traffic management is most important, including regulate vehicle ownership and regulating vehicle usage. In Ha Noi, some regulations on ownership of motorbikes have been implemented since last year. And maybe in the future, more regulations should be introduced, but public acceptance is maybe very low. So we should select other countermeasures. Meanwhile, regulation of vehicle usage has already been applied, such as truck ban inside ring road No.2, should be continued. Another kind of regulation is introduction of high tax on motorbikes or cars. High tax on car has already been in effect and I think the Government should continue this high tax. For users, the priority countermeasures are improvement of driving manner and introduction of off-peak commutation. Last month, I read an article about this, which says interval of peak-hours commutation is 30 minutes. In my opinion, this is rather small. 1 hour different commutation would be much more useful for reduction of traffic congestion.

About countermeasures for low mobility, we focus on bus utilization. So countermeasures within infrastructure include sidewalk improvement, pedestrian facilities installation. In my opinion, it is most important for Ha Noi to introduce bus lanes in the next step.

As Dr.Ieda says, bus exclusive lane is very important to expand the bus network and we should introduce more buses for users. Therefore, necessity for bus network expansion and frequency increase is high and the time needed is not long so time is short. Cost is "mid" means in Ha Noi, bus lane cannot be introduced under the present condition of road, so some roads have to be improved to introduce this. So it takes a little cost and time. Partly bus lane should be introduced first so that we let the users know the importance of this bus exclusive lane. So for motorbikes or other transport, bus exclusive lane is not acceptable, but most important countermeasure is utilization of public transport, so we put it as priority. For traffic management, installation of traffic signals for bus after the introduction of bus lanes should be done in the next step. And restriction of parking on street or sidewalks is very important not only for pedestrians but also for bicycles riders or motorbike riders. But this is one kind of custom in Ha Noi and in Vietnam so it takes much time to implement this policy.

Expansion of bus network and increase of frequency are already explained by Mr. Dung for next year. Maybe for some years, Ha Noi People's Committee will try to expand the bus network and introduce more buses to implement this. So this is actual public transport in Ha Noi and of course has priority.

And about accessibility to/from bus stops to houses or offices, sometimes passengers have to wait for more than 20 minutes to transfer buses, so here they use "xe om" and maybe in the future, "xe om" will be used for feeder sites, since it's very convenient and very flexible. So we propose improve accessibility to/from bus stops by "xe om".

And about introducing commuting allowance system, Japanese system of utilizing transport for commuting is that if the company or Government pays the commuting allowance when using public transport, they want to use public transport more, however public acceptance is small, so we do not select it as priority. But in next steps the Government should consider this countermeasure.

After introduction of bus exclusive lane, articulated bus should also be introduced year by year and steps by steps. And improvement of awareness on public transport is also very important so now, many bus stops have information about bus routes, time and other information related to city bus. These are very important and useful information and many passengers welcome them.

So the priority solutions for urban transport in Ha Noi are summarized in these slides. All the measures I explain are important to improve urban transport, but we focused on what should be done immediately. We consider management as the most important factor, so infrastructural solutions are not many, including improvement of road conditions, which requires not much money, redesign of intersection with separate traffic by vehicle types and installation of traffic signals and improvement of traffic sign and marking. These 4 measures are related to each other and should be implemented at the same time effectively. And introduction of bus lane should be implement event partly; while strengthen of traffic law enforcement and improve license system are also important. Improve license system means making obligatory training when someone get license or renew licenses. I have already explained expansion of the bus network and increase of bus frequency and improvement of accessibility to/from bus stops. For users, improve driving manner takes much time but we should start immediately and continue year by year and day by day. And also improvement of public awareness on traffic safety is important, for example education at school or by NGOs. And the last priority solution is introduction of off-peak commutation.

That's the end of my presentation. Thank you for your attention.