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V
ietnam’s five bike rental pilot
cities are Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh
City, Haiphong, Danang and
Can Tho. Each will implement
the scheme to encourage people to use
this environmentally-friendly means of
transport.
Putting his hope in the project,
Do XuanThuy, general director of the
Dong Xuan Joint Stock Company, the
developer of the bicycle rental pro-
gram in Hanoi, says that bicycles are
suitable for the city’s infrastructure. He
believes they can help solve the envi-
ronmental problems and traffic con-
gestion issues plaguing the capital and
that within three years the number of
people using bicycles in Vietnam will
increase.
The company will initially offer
250 bicycles in Hoan Kiem district at
VND4,000-5,000 (around $0.2) per
hour. They will be accessed via elec-
tronics cards and bike docks will be
located at bus stops and at major tour-
ist attractions, especially in the Old
Quarter.
Dang Huu Cu, senior external rela-
tions officer of the Asian Development
Bank (ADB) says that bike schemes
have been piloted in three cities in-
cluding Davao in the Philippines and
Vientiane in Laos with a view to pos-
sible replication across Asia.
The $2 million program was fund-
ed on a grant basis by the Japan Fund
for Poverty Reduction and was admin-
istered by ADB. It has helped improve
air quality as well as reduce the rate of
accidents.
According to Cu, the interests of
the public in bicycle rental is clear;
however, for the project to be put into
operation effectively in Vietnam, the
first key issue is communication: “It is
timeout
46
Proposed public bicycle rental schemes for Vietnam’s five major cities have
grabbed plenty of attention in the media. Many hope that the project will help
reduce congestion, but not everyone is in favour, writes
Nguyen Chung
Two wheels good
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