--- description: To make room for public transportation, Hanoi wants to ban bikes by 2025 title: Hanoi Plans to Ban Motorbikes Downtown, People Aren't Happy image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22a5cf8458979bd1/69889e988e06015c7d466cc5/downtown-hanoi-traffic-bikes-ban-2020.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Hanoi Plans to Ban Motorbikes Downtown and People Aren't Happy  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 21, 2016 5:08 PM CUT  Motorbikes try to weave their way between the cars as they all fight for space on the road as heavy traffic clogs up a main street in downtown Hanoi on January 29, 2016. Motorbikes try to weave their way between the cars as they all fight for space on the road as heavy traffic clogs up a main street in downtown Hanoi on January 29, 2016.Hoang Dinh Nam—AFP/Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 21, 2016 5:08 PM CUT Vietnam’s government plans to rid the congested streets in downtown Hanoi of motorbikes [by 2025](http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/hanoi-considers-motorbike-ban-to-solve-traffic-crisis-63552.html "undefined") to make room for more buses and metro lines — but residents are [less than open](https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jul/18/long-wait-hanoi-metro-vietnam-motorbike "undefined") to the change. There are currently around half a million cars and 5 million motorbikes [on the Hanoi streets](http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/07/a-hanoi-without-motorbikes/491795/ "undefined"), and the government estimates that economic growth will increase those numbers to 1 million cars and 7 million motorbikes by 2020\. The streets are already crowded, and air pollution is bad enough that the Real Time Air Quality Index [classifies the city](http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/hanoi-considers-motorbike-ban-to-solve-traffic-crisis-63552.html "undefined") as “unhealthy.” “The traffic situation in Hanoi will become extremely complicated in the next four to five years,” Hanoi City Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung [said](http://tuoitrenews.vn/society/35594/hanoi-sets-target-to-ban-motorbikes-by-2025 "undefined") at a public development meeting. “So we really need a timely solution to this.” That solution includes [building](http://tuoitrenews.vn/society/35594/hanoi-sets-target-to-ban-motorbikes-by-2025 "undefined") highway, bridges, tunnels, bus stations, along with doubling the number of buses and adding six new metro train lines by 2030\. But it also includes banning motorbikes from the city center within ten years. In a city where less than 10 percent of residents use public transportation, the transition would be extreme. In addition to not wanting to part with an integral mode of transportation, [The _Guardian_ reports](https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jul/18/long-wait-hanoi-metro-vietnam-motorbike "undefined") that some see the move as unfair to those who cannot afford their own cars. Many are skeptical that the construction of the first two new metro lines will happen on schedule by 2020, since they have already faced delays. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4417357/hanoi-vietnam-motorbike-downtown-ban/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4417357/hanoi-vietnam-motorbike-downtown-ban/"},"headline":"Hanoi Plans to Ban Motorbikes Downtown and People Aren't Happy","datePublished":"2016-07-21T17:08:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:26:41.482Z","description":"To make room for public transportation, Hanoi wants to ban bikes by 2025","url":"https://time.com/4417357/hanoi-vietnam-motorbike-downtown-ban/","keywords":["Vietnam","Technology","Travel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22a5cf8458979bd1/69889e988e06015c7d466cc5/downtown-hanoi-traffic-bikes-ban-2020.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22a5cf8458979bd1/69889e988e06015c7d466cc5/downtown-hanoi-traffic-bikes-ban-2020.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jul/18/long-wait-hanoi-metro-vietnam-motorbike","caption":"https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jul/18/long-wait-hanoi-metro-vietnam-motorbike","creditText":"Hoang Dinh Nam—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4417357/hanoi-vietnam-motorbike-downtown-ban/","name":"Hanoi Plans to Ban Motorbikes Downtown and People Aren't Happy"}}]}] ```