"With about seven million motorbikes crowding Hanoi's streets, petrol two-wheelers are a significant part of the reason the city regularly tops rankings for the world's worst air quality. Now, authorities are planning to ban the vehicles from the city centre. In July, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh issued Directive 20, which would bar all gasoline motorbikes from driving within Hanoi's Ring Road 1, which encircles the city, by July 1, 2026."
"Some fear the change will hit Hanoi's poorest residents hardest, and see the initiative as a pretext to bolster the country's largest conglomerate, Vingroup, and its electric vehicle offshoot, VinFast. A lot of people feel like this is an industry and development policy masquerading as an environmental protection policy, Hanh Nguyen, a Vietnamese-born PhD candidate at the Australian National University who specialises in Southeast Asia and Vietnam, told Al Jazeera. It is quite concerning to think about six million vehicles charging every day, Nguyen added."
Hanoi experiences severe air pollution often appearing as thick smog, driven largely by exhaust from roughly seven million petrol motorbikes and ongoing construction. Directive 20 mandates a ban on gasoline motorbikes within Ring Road 1 by July 1, 2026. Public opinion is split, with some residents already owning electric motorcycles while many remain resistant. Feasibility concerns focus on limited public transport, a patchy electricity grid, and insufficient charging infrastructure. Enforcement will be logistically difficult given millions of drivers. There are fears the ban could disproportionately harm poorer residents and advantage major domestic EV interests such as Vingroup and VinFast.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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