The paradox of "cutting" the roadway to park cars and still losing money by charging fees?

Toll collection has been carried out for many years, but is still mainly done manually by the above enterprise. Only 3 routes have applied automatic on-street parking fee collection since last January.

Regarding the fee collection results, from December 2020 to October 2024, the fee collection for parking on the roadside reached more than 22 billion VND. Mr. Vo Khanh Hung said that during this period, the amount of fees collected increased and the cost gradually decreased over time, but in total, the amount of money spent on fee collection activities to date still exceeded the revenue by 2.2 billion VND.

In order for the collection of fees for on-street parking to comply with the new regulations of the Law on Traffic Order and Safety, on March 25, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Bui Xuan Cuong directed relevant departments and branches to effectively implement the management and temporary use of a part of the roadway and sidewalk in the area. In which, the Department of Transport was assigned to coordinate with the Department of Justice and relevant agencies and units to review and advise the City People's Committee to abolish the previous decision. At the same time, review and propose the City People's Committee to submit to the City People's Council to issue a Resolution to replace the previously issued Resolution on this issue.

A painted road allows for paid parking on the roadway.

According to Mr. Tran Quang Lam, Director of the City's Department of Transport, by the end of January, Ho Chi Minh City was managing more than 9.53 million vehicles, including 1.02 million cars, not including the number of cars and motorbikes from other provinces brought to the city by people. Compared to 1 year ago, the number of cars has increased by 7.97%. To ensure parking infrastructure in the city center, on April 8, 2013, the Prime Minister issued a decision approving the adjustment of the Ho Chi Minh City Transport Development Plan to 2020 and the vision after 2020.

In particular, it is required to rearrange the entire system of points, stations, and parking lots appropriately, ensuring traffic safety and order, limiting traffic congestion as well as ensuring urban aesthetics according to the principle of prioritizing reasonable land funds for static traffic development. New construction projects must have a reasonable land fund ratio for static traffic; Plan 42 car parking lots with an area of ​​about 520 hectares for trucks and cars, prioritizing the arrangement of car parking lots along Ring Road 2, at the locations entering and exiting the inner city. The total area for the lots is about 602 hectares.

The demand for parking in the central area of ​​Ho Chi Minh City is very high, so more than ten years ago the city had a policy to implement 4 underground parking projects in the central area. These underground parking lots were built under Trong Dong stage, Le Van Tam park, the football field area in Tao Dan park and Hoa Lu stadium. According to the city's Department of Transport, the underground parking lot at Le Van Tam park was assigned to the Underground Space Development Investment Joint Stock Company as the investor, but because the investor had not arranged enough finance, it could not start.

The underground parking lot at Trong Dong stage invested by Dong Duong Group Company Limited has not been started because part of the project is located in the construction control area of ​​Metro Line 2, so the technical design must be adjusted, leading to a longer implementation time. The underground parking lots at Tao Dan Park and Hoa Lu Stadium, invested by the consortium of Vingroup - JSC and Saigon Culture - Sports Investment Company Limited, have had their project proposals approved by the city and have been assigned to establish a feasible project for many years. However, according to the Department of Transport, the project is large-scale, the design solution is complex, and it takes a long time to study, so it has not been started yet.

Thus, the planning of parking infrastructure was not implemented in accordance with the development plan, leading to the paradox of the city having to "cut" the roadway to make parking spaces. This temporary solution has not yet brought peace of mind to the public with such a loss-making result.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Giao-thong/nghich-canh-xen-long-duong-de-cho-dau-xe-o-to-thu-phi-van-lo--i764221/