HCM CITY — The HCM City administration has received a proposal from a US-based company to develop a smart transportation system using US$300 million borrowed from investment bank Morgan Stanley.

The project aims to reduce traffic jams, improve transport safety and reduce emissions, according to the company.

During a recent meeting with Trần Vĩnh Tuyến, vice chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, Shawn Smith, president of US company Vigilant Solutions Inc, suggested that the city use a smart traffic control system with a network of 12,000 fixed and mobile cameras installed around the city.

The funds would also be used to identify vehicle registration number plates to prevent traffic and toll collection violations.

Costs for manpower, technology and a control centre would also be covered under the loan.

The system would link to a national system for number plate registration and collection of fines imposed on traffic violators, Smith said.

San Francisco, which uses the system, has recorded an average of 5,600 cases of traffic violations each day, helping the city collect $2.8 million in fines.

Tuyến said the system, which is in line with HCM City’s goal of becoming a smart city, should first be installed in inner city districts and later in outlying districts. 

The city leader asked the company to clarify incentives and sources of capital for the project.

Tuyến suggested that the US company work with city departments and submit a detailed proposal to the municipal government by next month.   

The city’s Department of Information and Communications was asked to co-operate with other agencies to support the investor in implementation, internet security, contractor selection and financial incentives.

The Department of Transport had previously suggested a smart traffic control model as an effective solution to control traffic congestion, accidents, pollution and urban order.

The department is focusing this year and in 2017 on upgrading the traffic control system to secure smooth connections with the new network in the future.

Cần Thơ as a smart city in 10 years

The Việt Nam Fatherland Front Committee has called on the Cần Thơ Party Committee to pass a resolution to develop the city into a smart city in the next 10 years.

Speaking at a seminar held in the Mekong Delta city earlier this week, the committee’s Chairman, Nguyễn Thiện Nhân, said the resolution would identify 10 tasks, including developing a common data base for use by the public, businesses and State agencies.

There are 17 sectors for which the data should be developed - population, labour and family, water supply, investment, industry, agriculture, construction and housing, trade, tourism, transport, environment, education and training and human resources development, science and technology, health, social and health insurance and social security - he said.      

It would be used to draft the city’s smart zoning plan, he said.

The city has to review and upgrade zoning plans once in six months, and by doing this it would have forecasts for its development for the next five years, he said. 

It should focus on improving its economic efficiency and developing indexes for provincial competitiveness, labour productivity, water resources, human resources and culture, he said.

Last year Cần Thơ ranked third behind HCM City and Hà Nội in labour productivity among the country’s five centrally administered cities.

It ranked 14th in the Provincial Competitiveness Index.

But the city’s dynamism and competitiveness – two of the most important criteria in a market economy – ranked below the national average.  

This year the city’s economy has grown at 7.5 per cent, according to its People’s Committee. —VNS