Việt Nam in Transition: Transportation

Getting around a Vietnamese town conjures up touristy visions of xích lô drivers and rickety bicycles.  But in the emerging Việt Nam, the xích lô is going the way of the oxcart and the bicycle is rapidly being replaced by the môto.  The môto is the family mover and used for runs to the market.   In the two large cities of Sài Gòn and Hà Nội, the môto is in the early stages of being replaced by the automobile.

As always, be sure to click on the picture to see the full-sized version.

Automobiles are not unusual sights in Huê, though the streets are not clogged with them – yet.  The vast majority of them are Japanese brands one might see anywhere in the world.  Many auto makers, such as Toyota, Mercedes, and Ford have large assembly plants in the country.  If you visit Việt Nam using a tour agency, most likely you will travel in comfort in an air-conditioned van.  Even if you decide to “rough it” and travel by bus from city to city, you will ride in a modern Korean-made vehicle.  The day of the colorful, smoke belching, overloaded local bus is just about gone.

Commercial transportation is changing rapidly too.  In the north part of Huê, the railroad runs parallel to Highway 1, the main north-south artery for the entire country.  As is seen here, most of it is a four lane divided roadway that can handle heavy trucks, such as this Korean lorry used to haul steel construction materials for an Australian-Vietnamese joint stock company.

Việt Nam’s fledgling aviation sector is growing.  There are now two airlines serving most of the mid-sized cities.  Huê’s airport is south of the city at the old American base at Phu Bai.  The new control tower just went into service and handles both local traffic and planes flying through the area on high altitude routes.

So the next time you see the exotic photo of the Vietnamese pedicab known as the cyclo (xích lô), just remember that the real Việt Nam may be a bit different than expected.

Comments

[Tom Murray]

The sight of the roads in Saigon packed with guys on motos and their dates behind them on a Saturday night is one you will never forget. Thousands of motos stop at each traffic light near The Rex.

If cars come to Vietnam in any volume they may set a record for traffic jams. The roads just are not big enough to handle a switch from motos to cars. Last summer I heard something about permits to ship used cars to Vietnam being issued. That may accelerate the whole challenge.

What is Vietnam's plan on making more public transportation using alternative energy like "MagLev" train? China is having a few of those in big cities. With the oil price in a run-away situation, I think emerging countries should be smart and plan their economy around the concept of efficient use of energy. I wish my adopted country US of A do more in this department....sigh....

[Thuy]

I remembered my childhood -riding on the "local bus" - a Lambretta!

[Jim Murtaugh]

Transportation in Vietnam is
moving ahead very fast.I saw many new cars last year.Your story reminds me of a very angry cyclo driver I met in a park in HCMC.
He told me that the government was going to pass a
law removing cyclo's from the
city streets.He said that he had no other way to make a living."What will I do?What will I do?"
His words still echo in my mind...........

I just got back from a weekend in New York City. We saw quite a few cyclos on the street. What really surprised me was the sight I saw after leaving a performance of a Broadway play. Waiting for their riders were quite a few private cars with drivers, a limo, and about 20 cyclos! It was so crowded that we couldn't get a photo.

Ellen