Hanoi (VNA) - The Hanoi police areapplying a range of measures to ease traffic congestion in the city as Tet(Lunar New Year) draws near.

The amount of traffic in Hanoi usually increasesdramatically two months prior to Tet, the city’s police said. On some days thenumber of vehicles on the city’s roads increases by 200 percent, as peopletravel to the shops in preparation for Lunar New Year.

Traffic congestion can happen anytime, anywhereon the city’s streets, even in early morning on the major routes of Pham VanDong–Pham Hung, Phap Van–Giai Phong, Au Co–Yen Phu, according to the city’sDepartment of Transport.

Even though the number of traffic hotspots hadreduced from 44 last year to 35 this year, traffic congestion is likely tohappen on several other new spots, the department said.

Traffic congestion had even begun to occur onpreviously clear streets, such as Xa Dan, Hoang Cau, Kim Ma, Tran Phu and thenew Kim Lien stretch, even though the police had deployed the maximum number oftraffic police officers to direct traffic.

The same situation happened on the streets of TruongChinh, Chua Boc, Nguyen Luong Bang, Thai Ha, Hoang Hoa Tham despite theaddition of 15 allied troops, which consist of traffic police, mobile policeand criminal police to ease traffic congestion.

Overloaded traffic infrastructure and lowawareness amongst drivers are the two main causes of traffic congestion,according to Ha Huy Quang, deputy director of the city’s police department.

The department had deployed several solutions toimprove the situation, he said.

More traffic light systems were added to theroutes of Le Duan-Hai Ba Trung and Nga Tu So. Cars were allowed to travel inone-way pairs on the route of Nguyen Huu Tho-Giai Phong.

The Trung Hoa tunnel and the flyover on theroute of Hoang Minh Giam-Nguyen Chinh were fixed, and the Le Trong Tan stretchin Thanh Xuan District was completed and open for public use.

Some 2,600 more coaches will be utilised as thenumber of passengers is expected to increase by as much as 60 percent onJanuary 24-26 next year, according to the transport department.

The department sent official documents andrequested transport agencies to remind drivers to strictly follow regulationson traffic safety. Inspectors from the department will collaborate with thetraffic police to direct traffic in the areas around coach stations.

Deputy Transport Minister Le Dinh Tho said thatmembers of the Hanoi Traffic Safety Committee should increase supervision onfake coaches and coach stations. An inspection team, consisting of inspectorsfrom the city’s transport department and the transport ministry, should beformed to handle the scams, he said.

Tran Huu Minh, deputy chief of the NationalTraffic Safety Committee said that a fee should be applied to vehicles comingfrom the outskirts to the city’s central areas in order to limit the number ofvehicles traveling in the city.

Such a fee will be used to reinvest in otherforms of transport such as non-motorised transport, public transport andwalking streets, he said.

Nguyen Van Tong, deputy head of the city’straffic police office said that as temporary solutions, the transport ministryand the city’s People’s Committee should urge the completion of transportconstruction in the city’s central areas such as the railway that connects theNhon area with the Hanoi Railway Station, and the Cat Linh-Ha Dong route.

The city’s People’s Committee assigned thetransport department to develop more effective solutions for long-termprevention of traffic congestion in the city. Some of the solutions includemanaging the growth rate of personal vehicles and applying intelligenttransport systems. - VNA