Hanoi's plan to ban petrol bikes by 2026 leaves livelihoods in the dust

Straits Times

2 days ago

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On July 12, Vietnam officials said it would ban all fossil fuel-powered motorbikes from Hanoi's inner-city starting on July 1, 2026.
HANOI – Almost every day, Mr Bui Van Cong, 36, rides around on his motorbike taxi ferrying passengers in Hanoi, many of whom are travelling downtown for work or school and others running various errands.
He covers almost 100km daily, making around 500,000 Vietnamese dong (S$24.50) a day. This is sufficient for to cover the bachelor's daily expenses and rental for a modest room on the outskirts of the city.
But the common sight of thousands of motorbikes like his zipping across the Vietnam capital could soon be a thing of the past.
On July 12, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed a directive to ban all fossil fuel-powered motorbikes from Hanoi's inner-city starting July 1, 2026, as part of a sweeping new effort to tackle air and water pollution in the capital.
For the city's 8.5 million people who own nearly 7 million motorbikes, most of them powered by fossil fuel, the phasing out of these vehicles comes at great cost for the average person.
'Our livelihoods are going to be affected badly,' said Mr Cong.
It would be an understatement to say Hanoi residents rely heavily on petrol bikes – they use the motorbikes to take their children to school, deliver goods to the market, and may transport a family of four and even five on one bike to their hometowns in other provinces during the Lunar New Year holiday.
'This ban is a tax on the poor,' said motorbike ride Le Van Thinh, 58, an army veteran and part-time deliveryman, pointing out that for millions of low-income people in Hanoi, motorbikes are their livelihoods.
The decision to ban petrol bikes has quickly become one of the hottest, and most divisive, topics of discussion among Hanoi residents. Currently, about half a million petrol-powered bikes operate within Hanoi's inner city every day.
Petrol motorbikes significantly contribute to the city's worsening air pollution, accounting for 25 per cent of local fine dust, or particulate matter, according to a World Bank report. Other factors include industrial production and agriculture.
This has made Hanoi
one of the world's most air-polluted cities – 40 per cent of people in Hanoi are exposed to concentrations nearly five times greater than World Health Organisation guidelines. Petrol-powered motorbikes also emit high levels of other harmful pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds.
Vietnam, which is a regional manufacturing hub with one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, sees around 60,000 deaths annually that are related to air pollution. The toxic smog that envelops Hanoi for most of the year also poses health, environmental and economic risks to residents.
Since 2017, the local government has been considering a plan to clean up the capital's air, but the progress has been slow, until Mr Chinh's announcement on July 12.
Some like Mr Nguyen Thi Huong Lan, 42, an office worker, are supportive of the move. And while it will impact the daily commute for numerous people, Ms Lan believes that 'extreme situations call for drastic measures'.
'I'm worried about my children's health and their future, so I'm very happy the government has decided to phase out polluting vehicles in Hanoi,' she told ST. 'I bought an electric bike myself last year.'
Inadequate infrastructure
The July 2026 deadline, which is a timeframe of a little less than 12 months, has also been described as too hasty.
'I understand that a civilised, modern hub should have fewer motorbikes,' said Dr Vu Thanh Ca, a senior lecturer at Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment.
'But with fewer motorbikes, how will Hanoi residents get around when the public transportation system is as underdeveloped as it is now?' he asked.
The public transport infrastructure in Hanoi remains far from adequate, with only some 2,000 public buses, including fewer than 300 electric ones. The city's nascent metro system has just two operational lines spanning 20km in total.
Dr Ca suggested that in order to ban petrol motorbikes or cars, Hanoi must 'urgently' build and operate a good public transportation network and improve urban railway system.
In 2017, the Hanoi authorities set a target for its public passenger transport system, consisting mostly of buses, to meet at least 30 per cent of travel demand in the central urban area by 2020. It hoped to raise this figure to 50 per cent by 2030.
Mr Bui Van Cong, who provides motorbike taxi services to Hanoi commuters, is worried about the 2026 ban.
PHOTO: NGA PHAM
Currently, the public bus system currently meets only 18 per cent of the total transportation demand.
'I think banning or restricting personal vehicles should be implemented gradually alongside an efficient public transportation system,' said Dr Ca, adding that the authorities should also enforce strict emission testing for fossil-fuelled vehicles.
According to a recent survey of more than 13,000 people by VnExpress news outlet, 58 per cent of respondents felt that banning petrol bikes by mid-2026 was 'unfeasible', and only 18 per cent were confident of the city meeting the deadline.
'They will not able to do that, not next year, not in the next five years,' exclaimed Mr Thinh, the army veteran. 'Where are they going to dump the millions of petrol bikes we have?'
While going electric seems to be the obvious solution for some, for others it's not within their budget. The average monthly earnings in Hanoi is around 10 million Vietnamese dong .
'I don't make much money and I have a million things to pay for,' Mr Cong told ST, 'How can I afford to buy a new electric motorbike that costs at least 30 million dong ?'
His second-hand petrol bike cost around 8 million dong two years ago. Right now, such motorcycles cost around 10 million to 12 million dong.
The Hanoi authorities have proposed a scheme to subsidise some of the costs involved in converting from petrol-powered motorbikes to electric motorbikes.
Mr Duong Duc Tuan, the vice-chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, said the city will cover nearly all associated administrative costs for vehicle conversion, including registration fees and licence plate issuance for new electric motorbikes, amounting to at least 3 million dong .
Charging of these vehicles also poses a major challenge for the authorities. Hanoi still lacks sufficient facilities for the millions of electric motorbikes it plans to put on the roads in the near future.
At the moment, only one automaker, Vinfast, has around 10 charging stations across Hanoi, only for Vinfast motorbikes. It is unclear how many vehicles the stations serve, as most of users charge at home. In total, there are 200,000 e-bikes in Hanoi, according to the transport department.
Mr Tuan said on July 14 that the authorities will establish 'a suitable charging station system (for electric vehicles), while ensuring safety'.
Mr Cong said: 'Those (electric) bikes are only good for going to the shop or short distances, not for the hundreds of kilometres a day my job requires, because they need constant charging.'
On a full charge, an electric motorbike can travel between 60km and 80km.
PHOTO: NGA PHAM
On a full charge, an electric motorbike can travel between 60km and 80km.
Mr Tuan also said an electric public transport network with small electric buses will be set up to form an inner-city shuttle system to meet people's mobility needs, he said.
This scheme, however, is likely to take more than a year to carry out. Mr Tuan did not give any dates or other details, such as the size of the electric public transport network.
Changing habit
Mr Nguyen Ba Canh Son, founder and CEO of Dat Bike, is one of Vietnam's home-grown electric bike producers that hit the streets in 2019.
PHOTO: NGA PHAM
Electric motorbike makers are upbeat about the 'clear signal that Vietnam is serious about decarbonising urban transport', said Mr Nguyen Ba Canh Son, founder and CEO of Dat Bike, one of Vietnam's home-grown electric bike producers that hit the streets in 2019.
Mr Son said that the e-bike market is expanding by a 'remarkable' 30 per cent a year. He said that the market for adult-use electric motorbikes, like the models Dat Bike produces, is growing at approximately 50 per cent annually. There are also electric bikes for schoolchildren and people with limited mobility.
'We aim to produce 200,000 to 250,000 bikes a year to meet this rising demand,' added Mr Son.
Besides Dat Bike, there are several electric motorbike manufacturers in Vietnam. The biggest is VinFast, which is owned by Vingroup, one of the largest private corporations in the country. VinFast delivered 71,000 electric bikes in 2024 and plans to double that figure in 2025.
According to the World Bank, Vietnam could have 12 million to 16 million electric motorbikes on the road by 2035.
But the country will need to increase electricity generation to meet charging demand. This will require additional power sector investments of up to US$9 billion (S$11.5 billion) by 2030, said the World Bank.
While the government's direction for greener modes of transport can bring long-term benefits, there needs to be more work done to support the green transition.
'In order to have green transportation, we need green energy,' said environmental activist Pham Thi Huong Giang, noting that currently, 85 per cent of Vietnam's electricity comes from fossil fuels.
Meanwhile, she too was sceptical of the one-year deadline to phase out petrol bikes from the city core. She believes this should be extended to at least five years to help people prepare for the transition.
'It's not that we don't support the switch to electric bikes, we just want an action plan with greener solutions,' Ms Giang said.