Many people want Hanoi to switch to 100% electric buses by 2030.

Hanoi plans to spend 43,000 billion VND to invest in greener, more environmentally friendly buses. VietNamNet reporter interviewed Mr. Hoang Duong Tung, Chairman of the Clean Air Network about this story.

- Hanoi is planning to develop a public transport system using buses using electricity and green energy. Hanoi has set a target of "green vehicles" for public transport, in which 100% of new buses and replacement buses use electricity or green energy from 2025 and 100% of new taxis and replacement taxis use electricity or green energy from 2030. What do you think about this policy?

Hanoi has recently proposed 3 green conversion options in public transport, I think that is a very strong breakthrough when Hanoi boldly eliminates means of transport using fossil fuels, switching to cleaner fuels such as electricity. To implement this policy, the Hanoi Department of Transport has proposed 3 scenarios for converting buses to use electric energy and green energy in the period of 2026-2030. These are 100% electric buses; 70% electric buses, 30% LNG/CNG buses; 50% electric buses, 50% LNG/CNG buses. It is necessary to propose scenarios for discussion, analysis, and selection of the optimal option. I think each option has its strengths and weaknesses, however, when we see electric buses running on the streets, many people will want Hanoi to be determined to choose the option of converting to 100% electric buses by 2030. Because electric buses are clean, beautiful and environmentally friendly.

- What about the plan related to electric taxis, sir? Currently, it is clear that gasoline-powered taxis still account for a large number. Do you think that Hanoi should have a mechanism to encourage taxi businesses to accelerate the use of electric taxis? I think not only electric taxis, but all public vehicles should switch to electric. If all taxis are converted to electric taxis, there will be many advantages such as no noise, no pollution. I hope that not only taxis will switch to electric. Every day we see the cleaners collecting garbage, they have a hard time pushing the garbage carts, I hope that we can mechanize that problem, then we can do a good job of sorting garbage at the source, which Hanoi is having a lot of difficulty with. This will help increase labor productivity, be clean and protect the environment and reduce the effort of the cleaners. If we can use electric vehicles, collecting garbage at night will be less difficult, less noisy, and bring many benefits. In addition, it would be great if freight cars were switched to electric vehicles. I think it would be great if public services such as postal vehicles were powered by electricity. I think that is something that many Hanoians are looking forward to. - So, if Hanoi is determined to switch public transport to electric vehicles, it will demonstrate the pioneering role of the Hanoi government, creating ripple effects in changing people's habits related to means of transport, don't you think? I think so, the role of the government is very important, encouraging the switch to electric vehicles is not through money but through mechanisms. For example, in waste classification, it is necessary to stipulate that waste collection units must have the conditions and technical equipment. If we are determined to add the requirement to use environmentally friendly vehicles, it will demonstrate Hanoi's orientation in green transformation, not only in the field of waste classification, but also in means of transport, reducing pollution. Policies must demonstrate that Hanoi is prioritizing green transition, not just in words but with specific policies. This will benefit businesses and protect the environment. I have seen many countries do the same. For example, when I went to the Netherlands, I saw that electric taxis do not have to queue, people can automatically pick up passengers. These are mechanisms that we can completely create to make transportation greener. I think that the incentive mechanism is often not money but creating a mechanism to encourage more people to participate. That is truly sustainable.

By 2050, there will be only electric vehicles on the road with more than 10.5 million cars and 98 million motorbikes . "There are currently about 2.4 million cars, almost all of which run on gasoline. By 2050, there will be only electric vehicles on the road with an expected number of 9.6-10.5 million cars," a report estimates.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/nhieu-nguoi-muon-den-nam-2030-ha-noi-chuyen-doi-sang-100-xe-bust-dien-2295702.html