Auto toll for downtown HCMC proposed at $3 max by Transport Department

Cars and buses get stuck in a traffic jam in HCMC in 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa

Autos should pay $40,000-70,000 ($1.75-3) to enter downtown HCMC during peak hours from 6-9 a.m. and 3-7 p.m., the Transport Department suggested.

The one-way fee, also applied for government vehicles, would be VND40,000 for cars and VND70,000 for trucks and passenger cars, the department stated in a proposal sent to the city administration.

According to VN Express, taxi cabs registered in Ho Chi Minh City will be granted a discount to better manage taxis operating in the city, reduce the impact of rapid ride-hailing service development and limit the number of taxis coming from other localities.

Public busses, fire trucks, and ambulances are exempted from the toll.

Last week, the department submitted a report to the administration on reviving a project to collect tolls from cars entering the downtown area as part of efforts to reduce traffic congestion and promote public transportation.

The report came after ITD Corporation, a city-based tech firm proposed the department conducts the project under the public–private partnership (PPP) investment model, stating the firm would serve as main investor for the project, which is estimated to cost VND2.274 trillion (more than $100 million).

The corporation will operate the project in 10 years under a build, lease, transfer (BLT) contract, a type of PPP investment model whereby a private contractor builds (and finances) a project on behalf of a public sector partner (or client) and then leases the project back to the client for a predetermined period.

As proposed, the project will build a closed corridor surrounding the two downtown districts of 1 and 3.

Tollgates will go up on existing roads and sidewalks and there will be no site clearance required. The entire toll collection system will be operated by one operation center.

Back in 2010, HCMC had already approved in principle an ITD proposal to implement a project to collect downtown toll from cars, but the project was put on hold after encountering opposition from the public and experts.

HCMC had 8.4 million registered vehicles as of mid-September, including more than 806,000 cars and around 7.6 million motorbikes, up 3.8 and 3.3 percent respectively against the same period last year.