HCM City is piloting a voluntary programme to monitor emissions from motorbikes. — Photo nld.com.vn

HCM CITY — A pilot programme to monitor emissions from motorbikes has been launched by the HCM City Department of Transport.

Locals participating in the voluntary programme can have their motorbikes' emissions tested for free at eight vehicle maintenance agencies until September.

Owners of bikes whose gas emissions are within the national criteria can receive vouchers for changing engine oil.

Vehicles that exceed the criteria will be subjected to further testing and will receive free maintenance for parts such as spark plugs and carburetors.

More than 6,000 testing papers are expected to be issued during the pilot period to locals who want to sign up for the programme.

Talep Issa Mael of District 3's Honda - Tân Long Vân agency, one of the testers for the programme, said that procedures would take around 15 minutes, including both testing and data entry. The data will be sent to the Việt Nam Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers for analysis.

Additional testing for vehicles exceeding the national criteria will take around 45 minutes.

District 1 has two assessment facilities at Lý Tự Trọng and Nguyễn Trãi streets; District 3 has one at Trần Quốc Thảo street; Phú Nhuận District has three at Phan Đăng Lưu, Trương Quốc Dung and Nguyễn Kiệm streets; and Tân Bình District has two at Cộng Hòa and Phổ Quang streets.

As of 2019, HCM City had nearly 8 million motorbikes, accounting for around 90 per cent of vehicles in the city.

Bùi Hòa An, deputy director of the Department of Transport, said that traffic congestion, noise and air pollution, and vehicles with poor emissions were causing health problems among local residents.

Emissions are normally assessed when automobiles are manufactured, imported or registered, but the procedure does not exist for motorbikes.

The voluntary testing programme for motorbikes aims to examine locals' response to such a programme, according to An. Through the pilot, motorbike emissions will be evaluated and the socio-economic impact of monitoring emissions will be assessed.  

The department will also use the collected data to expand the monitoring programme, focusing on old vehicles. The city police have been asked to focus more on old motorbikes, which cause a great deal of pollution and pose safety risks.

Authorities are also raising local awareness about the usage of old vehicles, An said.     

Associate Professor Hồ Quốc Bằng, director of the Air Pollution and Climate Change Research Centre, said that if the city launched a programme to monitor motorbike emissions, a 30 per cent decrease in air pollution could be achieved. — VNS