HANOI, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's capital Hanoi on Tuesday kicked off a new parking plan on odd and even days on Nguyen Gia Thieu street as part of the city's initiatives to counter downtown traffic congestion.
Local authorities will closely monitor the street to notice people about the new practice. Punishments will only be levied on violations starting from April 1, 2017, reported Vietnam's state-run news agency VNA on Tuesday.
Instead of parking on both sides of the street, car owners are now required to park on the side of the street with odd-numbered houses on odd days and on the side of the street with even-numbered houses on even days.
Streets chosen to apply the method must be two-way streets without a median strip. The width of the car parking area is 1.8 meters. Vehicles can park in only one row on one side.
In the first quarter of 2017, the new parking scheme will be implemented on many other streets in the city including Cua Dong Street, Tran Xuan Soan Street and Le Dai Hanh Street.
Earlier in December 2016, Hanoi's department of transportation finished reviewing the pilot parking period on Da Tuong Street, which started in November 2016. Local people voiced that the new method left space for pedestrians on the no-parking side and benefited shops on the streets with more customers, reported VNA.
Due to positive results of the trial, Hanoi authority then decided to expand the initiative to other qualified streets in 2017.
As of the end of 2016, it was estimated that existing car parks in Hanoi could meet only 10 percent of the demand, said Hanoi transport department.
