Bicycles are a favourite way of getting around in Huế. The city plans to turn green traffic. Photo courtesy of UNDP

THỪA THIÊN-HUẾ — The central province has been closely cooperating with international organisations and partners in boosting 'green' traffic by encouraging electric vehicles in the Master Plan 2021-2030 for submission to the Government for approval by the end of this year.

The plan was discussed at a workshop on 'Electric traffic contributes to promoting the development of green Huế City' that was organised by Thừa Thiên Huế Institute for Development Studies (HueIDS), the provincial women's union and UNDP.

At the workshop, participants shared local authorities' national strategies and practical contributions. In addition, they introduced pilot activities to encourage the transition to cleaner modes of transport as well as opportunities and challenges, solutions and initiatives in supporting the development of electric and green transport in turning Huế into a sustainable local.

The development of electric vehicles towards green traffic development in Huế City has been seen as a positive solution in implementing the public transport project that the province and UNDP have been focusing on.

The transportation sector is one of the sectors that use fossil fuels and emit large greenhouse gases in the Vietnamese economy. Therefore, the Government of Việt Nam has approved the transport sector's action programme on green transformation and carbon and methane reduction, with the overall goal of developing a green transport system. By 2050, Việt Nam intends to strongly implement this shift in the direction of 100 per cent of road vehicles being electric.

"We always look forward to learning about electric transport models of countries around the world, the orientations and goals of the Government as well as pilot models deployed in Việ Nam to be able to learn and implement in Thừa Thiên Huế", Phan Quý Phương, Vice Chairman of provincial people's committee said.

Speaking at the workshop, Patrick Haverman, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Việt Nam, emphasised that 'Green transport offers the potential to be the mode of transport of the future in realising Huế's long-term goals on low-carbon urban development. 

Huế City needs construction planning with an overall green transport development plan that integrates with other development activities, in which appropriate roadmaps and infrastructure networks are needed. Traffic needs to be designed to be integrated and friendly to the environment. At the same time, it is necessary to develop an institutional and policy framework for management, operation and encouragement of greening initiatives. Stakeholder engagement and consideration of policies across different sectors are important factors contributing to the sustainability of green transport solutions, increasing urban accessibility, and increasing urban mobility market and developing solutions to promote electric traffic."

This seminar is part of the project 'Promoting the sustainable transition of electric traffic in Việt Nam' supported by the Government of Japan, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through improving policies, environment for electric transport development at the national level and implementation of pilot activities on promoting electric traffic in Huế City.

School students use electric bikes for their daily journey in Huế City. The tourism hub aims to be a 'green' traffic local in Việt Nam. Photo courtesy of UNDP

Huế City has launched the first phase of the Public Bike Sharing System – an innovative public bike-sharing scheme by the International Co-operation Agency of Germany (GIZ), tech firm Vietsoftpro and the central provincial people's committee – has been launched in Huế city to develop a bicycle transportation plan for 2021-2026.

The pilot project used 80 bicycles for seven stations in the inner city and destinations along the Hương River in the first phase before expanding to 19 or 20 stations with a total of 500 bicycles in 2023.

The Public Bike Sharing System will help visitors and residents access public bicycles in the wider smart city concept for turning Huế City into a low-carbon city.

It is also expected to improve physical and mental health and quality of life in Huế, a UNESCO-recognised world heritage site and tourist attraction. — VNS