Zürcher Nachrichten - Hanoi scooter riders baulk at petrol-powered bikes ban

EUR -
AED 4.310221
AFN 82.155324
ALL 97.823133
AMD 450.645235
ANG 2.100475
AOA 1076.234339
ARS 1473.514285
AUD 1.791261
AWG 2.115499
AZN 1.996077
BAM 1.961628
BBD 2.369741
BDT 142.890269
BGN 1.953652
BHD 0.442395
BIF 3447.001039
BMD 1.173647
BND 1.50457
BOB 8.110095
BRL 6.531578
BSD 1.173687
BTN 101.352119
BWP 16.360608
BYN 3.841012
BYR 23003.479863
BZD 2.357604
CAD 1.596576
CDF 3387.145366
CHF 0.93167
CLF 0.029077
CLP 1115.821696
CNY 8.42068
CNH 8.417255
COP 4779.747549
CRC 591.958723
CUC 1.173647
CUP 31.101644
CVE 110.616143
CZK 24.621957
DJF 208.580483
DKK 7.465416
DOP 70.879738
DZD 152.280921
EGP 57.593323
ERN 17.604704
ETB 160.438806
FJD 2.635075
FKP 0.869596
GBP 0.868129
GEL 3.18031
GGP 0.869596
GHS 12.235242
GIP 0.869596
GMD 84.502242
GNF 10159.087821
GTQ 9.007762
GYD 245.549533
HKD 9.212911
HNL 30.925529
HRK 7.533054
HTG 154.01759
HUF 399.0159
IDR 19081.386546
ILS 3.919001
IMP 0.869596
INR 101.336491
IQD 1537.477481
IRR 49425.218326
ISK 142.387226
JEP 0.869596
JMD 188.209174
JOD 0.832173
JPY 172.152847
KES 151.984555
KGS 102.635049
KHR 4715.713436
KMF 495.279152
KPW 1056.318627
KRW 1621.475665
KWD 0.358138
KYD 0.978106
KZT 626.230545
LAK 25309.696554
LBP 105100.083013
LKR 354.034303
LRD 235.902622
LSL 20.679287
LTL 3.465474
LVL 0.709928
LYD 6.367002
MAD 10.596809
MDL 19.905139
MGA 5199.255783
MKD 61.489111
MMK 2463.429779
MNT 4212.545586
MOP 9.490095
MRU 46.734228
MUR 53.389385
MVR 18.070545
MWK 2038.036225
MXN 21.885465
MYR 4.962764
MZN 75.066503
NAD 20.679181
NGN 1796.607129
NIO 43.131273
NOK 11.821875
NPR 162.163792
NZD 1.957138
OMR 0.451263
PAB 1.173687
PEN 4.178539
PGK 4.869168
PHP 66.751132
PKR 334.401423
PLN 4.25183
PYG 8925.250959
QAR 4.27278
RON 5.067772
RSD 117.118129
RUB 92.132882
RWF 1688.291111
SAR 4.4027
SBD 9.723776
SCR 16.576525
SDG 704.776571
SEK 11.168471
SGD 1.500596
SHP 0.922302
SLE 26.993899
SLL 24610.793968
SOS 670.744383
SRD 42.9948
STD 24292.121904
STN 24.881315
SVC 10.269204
SYP 15259.59054
SZL 20.679677
THB 37.756437
TJS 11.267275
TMT 4.119501
TND 3.37717
TOP 2.748801
TRY 47.479094
TTD 7.970681
TWD 34.502525
TZS 3063.218208
UAH 49.028302
UGX 4211.5125
USD 1.173647
UYU 47.390799
UZS 14934.657142
VES 140.209264
VND 30684.999032
VUV 139.392575
WST 3.09389
XAF 657.911671
XAG 0.029898
XAU 0.000342
XCD 3.17184
XCG 2.115285
XDR 0.819039
XOF 659.589833
XPF 119.331742
YER 282.790417
ZAR 20.611981
ZMK 10564.229246
ZMW 27.141638
ZWL 377.913833
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Hanoi scooter riders baulk at petrol-powered bikes ban
Hanoi scooter riders baulk at petrol-powered bikes ban / Photo: Nhac NGUYEN - AFP

Hanoi scooter riders baulk at petrol-powered bikes ban

Vietnam's plan to bar gas-guzzling motorbikes from central Hanoi may clear the air of the smog-smothered capital, but riders fear paying a high toll for the capital's green transition.

Text size:

"Of course everyone wants a better environment," said housewife Dang Thuy Hanh, baulking at the 80 million dong ($3,000) her family would spend replacing their four scooters with electric alternatives.

"But why give us the first burden without any proper preparation?" grumbled the 52-year-old.

Hanoi's scooter traffic is a fixture of the city's urban buzz. The northern hub of nine million people has nearly seven million two-wheelers, hurtling around at rush hour in a morass of congestion.

Their exhausts splutter emissions regularly spurring the city to the top of worldwide smog rankings in a country where pollution claims at least 70,000 lives a year, according to the World Health Organization.

The government last weekend announced plans to block fossil-fuelled bikes from Hanoi's 31 square kilometre (12 square mile) centre by next July.

It will expand in stages to forbid all gas-fuelled vehicles in urban areas of the city in the next five years.

Hanh -- one of the 600,000 people living in the central embargo zone -- said the looming cost of e-bikes has left her fretting over the loss of "a huge amount of savings".

While she conceded e-bikes may help relieve pollution, she bemoaned the lack of public charging points near her home down a tiny alley in the heart of the city.

"Why force residents to change while the city's infrastructure is not yet able to adapt to the new situation?" she asked.

Many families in communist-run Vietnam own at least two motorcycles for daily commutes, school runs, work and leisure.

Proposals to reform transport for environmental reasons often sparks allegations the burden of change is felt highest by the working class.

London has since 2023 charged a toll for older, higher pollution-emitting vehicles.

France's populist "Yellow Vest" protests starting in 2018 were in part sparked by allegations President Emmanuel Macron's "green tax" on fuel was unfair for the masses.

- 'Cost too high' -

Hanoi authorities say they are considering alleviating the financial burden by offering subsidies of at least three million dong ($114) per switch to an e-bike, and also increasing public bus services.

Food delivery driver Tran Van Tan, who rides his bike 40 kilometres (25 miles) every day from neighbouring Hung Yen province to downtown Hanoi, says he makes his living "on the road".

"The cost of changing to an e-bike is simply too high," said the 45-year-old, employed through the delivery app Grab. "Those with a low income like us just cannot suddenly replace our bikes."

Compared with a traditional two-wheeler, he also fears the battery life of e-bikes "won't meet the needs for long-distance travel".

But citing air pollution as a major threat to human health, the environment and quality of life, deputy mayor Duong Duc Tuan earlier this week said "drastic measures are needed".

In a recent report, Hanoi's environment and agriculture ministry said over half of the poisonous smog that blankets the city for much of the year comes from petrol and diesel vehicles.

The World Bank puts the figure at 30 percent, with factories and waste incineration also major culprits.

Several European cities, such as Barcelona, Paris and Amsterdam have also limited the use of internal combustion engines on their streets -- and other major Vietnamese cities are looking to follow suit.

The southern business hub Ho Chi Minh City aims to gradually transition delivery and service motorbikes to electric over the next few years.

But with the high costs, office worker Nguyen My Hoa thinks the capital's ban will not be enforceable.

"Authorities will not be able to stop the huge amount of gasoline bikes from entering the inner districts," 42-year-old Hoa said.

"It simply does not work."

L.Zimmermann--NZN