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Parking shortage plagues HCM City
There have been many times when Le Van Thanh Tung, a driver working for Bayer Viet Nam Company, had to drive around for two or three kilometres to find parking space in downtown HCM City.
After finding space, he said, "I had to sit under the baking sun to keep an eye on the car while waiting for the boss to finish the meeting. Honestly, finding parking space is the biggest worry for drivers."
The city centre does not have a single parking lot.
The People's Committee announced last November it would allow parking on 73 streets for a fee, including 32 streets in District 1.
Along downtown streets like Pham Ngu Lao, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Nguyen Trai, Nguyen Hue, Le Lai, and Ham Nghi, long lines of parked cars can be seen at most times.
Even on narrow streets like Cao Ba Quat, Bui Thi Xuan, Thi Sach, Suong Nguyet Anh, Tran Cao Van, and Nguyen Van Thu, cars parked along the curbs on both sides take up nearly half the road.
These streets have already run out of space since shops and restaurants park their cars all day long here because of the cheap parking fee. Even taxi drivers park here while waiting for fares.
Ha Le An of the Urban Transport Management Division No 1 admitted the parking fees are too low: VND5,000 – VND10,000 for cars with up to 16 seats.
As a result, there is no parking space left for shoppers and residents.
HCM City has around 427,000 private cars, and 80 more are registered daily.
Assuming an automobile requires 12 square metres for parking, the city needs to have at least 5.12 million square metres (more than 500ha) for parking.
The city has around 11,000 taxis but their operators only have a cumulative 2.5ha of parking space, according to the Department of Transport. The others park in petrol stations or on roads.
Private car parks
Many private parking lots have sprung up to take advantage of the huge demand for parking space. Ngoc Lam, a driver, said he knows of some parking lots in buildings in District 1.
One of them is in Sai Gon Centre at the corner of Pasteur and Le Loi Streets which collects a rather stiff fee based on time.
But despite this, few outsiders' cars can be parked there because vehicles belonging to people working in the building take up almost the entire space, a building security guard said. Havana building on Ham Nghi street charges even more than Sai Gon Centre – VND20,000 for an hour for regular cars.
Some enterprising people even hire space to set up impromptu parking lots.
Tran Thi Kim Hoang, director of Thien Dai Loi private company, has rented 3,000 square metres at 86 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 1, and created a car park.
She charges VND1.2 million a month for each car of up to seven seats.
vietnamnews
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