Germany supports Hoi An with “Bike City” program development
The German government has sponsored the ancient town of Hoi An in Quang Nam Province with a total investment of 178,000 euros, or VND4.1 billion, to develop bicycle-based traffic and free or low-cost bicycle-sharing projects.
 |
| Foreign tourists cycle while sightseeing in Hoi An City |
Speaking at the seminar, organized on October 24 by the Hoi An government in collaboration with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and Health Bridge Vietnam, Nguyen Van Son, vice chairman of Hoi An City, said the project had resulted from the Global Urban Mobility Challenge Award of the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI), held by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development between May 22 and 25 in Leipzig, Germany.
Son stressed that the seminar would be a platform for the city to broadly discuss and research issues related to bike traffic to build an appropriate public transport system in Hoi An City and create specific features for the city.
At the seminar, Jan Rickmeyer, a member of TUMI, introduced a design for a safe bicycle-based environment in New York City. “A city with a safe bike-riding environment would encourage more people to ride bikes,” Rickmeyer stated, adding that he expected Hoi An to succeed in its bike traffic plan.
Hoi An City is known as the first city in Vietnam to host the “Car-Free Day” event, held on September 9, 2012, in an effort to clean up the environment in the tourism hub.
Since April 1, 2014, the city has encouraged locals, tourists and public employees to travel by bicycle in the ancient town. As such, Hoi An residents’ habit of riding bikes as their primary means of transport has eased traffic jams.
