Vietnam ITS master plan

Volume 2: The Study on the Master Plan of Intelligent Transport Systems for the Viet Nam Expressway Network... 1 Enhance effects by integrated development of expressway and Intelligent T

Volume 2:

The Study on the Master Plan of Intelligent Transport Systems for the Viet Nam Expressway Network

Table of Contents

1.1 Objective of the Master Plan Study 1

1.2 Scope of the Study 4

1.3 Perspectives of the Study 5

1.4 Structure of the Master Plan 6

CHAPTER 2 PRESENT CONDITIONS AND ISSUES 2.1 Nature and Population in Vietnam 9

2.2 Industry and Trade 10

2.3 Current Transport System in Vietnam 11

2.3.1 Transport Sector 11

2.3.2 Road Network and Facilities 12

2.3.3 Railway Transport 13

2.3.4 Inter-city Bus Transport 13

2.3.5 Freight Transports 16

2.4 Relevant Plan and Countermeasures on Traffic 17

2.5 Present Conditions of Traffic 18

2.5.1 Traffic Safety and Security 18

2.5.2 Traffic Control/Traffic Management 18

2.5.3 Border Security 19

2.6 Present Conditions of Information/Communication Services 20

2.6.1 Internet Services/Communication Network 20

2.6.2 Cellular Phone Service 20

2.6.3 Radio Communication 20

2.6.4 Banking Service 21

2.7 Background Issues for Intelligent Transport Systems 22

CHAPTER 3 GOALS FOR INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS 3.1 Goal-1: Provide Prompt and Punctual Inter-urban Transport 26

3.2 Goal-2: Improve Safety and Security of Road Transport 26

3.3 Goal-3: Promote Industries by Introducing Intelligent Transport Systems 27

3.4 Goal-4: Coordinate with Intelligent Transport Systems for Metropolitan Area 27

CHAPTER 4 USER SERVICES 4.1 General of User Service 28

4.2 Nonstop Toll Collection 29

4.2.1 Summary of Service Contents and Effects 29

4.2.2 Tariff Rate Systems 30

4.2.3 Tollgate Arrangement 33

4.2.4 Main Points for Defining Specific Toll Amount 37

4.2.5 Provisional Estimate of Toll Amount 39

4.2.6 Payment Method 43

4.2.7 Detailed Toll Collection Procedure and Enforcement 44

4.2.8 Tollgate Arrangement and Procedure for Early Stage 45

4.3 Road Traffic Information Dissemination 49

4.3.1 Summary of Service Contents and Effects 49

4.3.2 Event Segmentation and Priority 50

4.3.3 Traffic Surveillance 50

4.3.4 Information Dissemination 54

4.3.5 Communication Tools 56

4.3.6 Required Equipment for Processing Event/Traffic Data 56

4.4 Heavy Truck Control 58

4.4.1 Summary of Service Contents and Effects 58

4.4.2 Heavy Truck Tracking 59

4.4.3 Overloading Regulation 60

4.5 Inter-city Bus Information Provision 61

4.5.1 Summary of Service Contents and Effects 61

4.5.2 Inter-city Bus Tracking 62

4.5.3 Bus Stop/In-vehicle Monitoring 63

4.6 Convenient Parking Assistance 64

4.6.1 Summary of Service Contents and Effects 64

4.6.2 Comprehensive Fee Collection around Parking 65

4.6.3 Park and Ride 65

4.7 Road Pricing 67

4.7.1 Summary of Service Contents and Effects 67

4.7.2 Main Points of Pricing 68

4.7.3 Compatibility with Toll Collection 69

CHAPTER 5 EFFECTS OF USER SERVICES 5.1 Benefit Flow Diagram 70

5.2 Provisional Benefit Estimation 74

5.2.1 Nonstop Toll Collection 74

5.2.2 Road Traffic Information Dissemination 74

CHAPTER 6 SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT POLICY

6.1 System Development Policy 76

6.2 Example for Necessity and Difficulty of Standardization 78

6.3 Example of Successful Standardization 79

6.4 Importance of Standardization out of Acceding to WTO 80

CHAPTER 7 ALTERNATIVE PACKAGES FOR USER SERVICES 7.1 General of Alternative Package 81

7.2 Toll Collection 84

7.3 Incident Information Dissemination 88

7.4 Traffic Congestion Information Dissemination 91

7.5 Travel-time Information Dissemination 96

7.6 Traffic Control Assistance 100

7.7 Heavy Truck Tracking 105

7.8 Weigh in Motion 108

7.9 Bus Tracking Information Provision 110

7.10 Bus Stop/In-vehicle Monitoring 113

7.11 Parking/Roadside-amenity Fee Collection 116

7.12 Bus Fare Collection for Park-and-ride 119

7.13 Parking Information Dissemination 121

7.14 Road Pricing 124

7.15 Air Pollution Information Provision 126

7.16 Center-to-center Traffic Data Exchange 128

CHAPTER 8 SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE 8.1 Logical System Architecture of Intelligent Transport Systems 133

8.2 System Architecture for Each User Service 134

CHAPTER 9 DEVELOPMENT PLAN 9.1 Timetable for User Service Development 141

9.2 Operation Framework 142

9.3 Communication Network 144

CHAPTER 10 SUBSEQUENT ISSUES FOR SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION 10.1 Operation Framework 147

10.2 Technical Standards 149

10.3 Pilot Project 150

10.4 Promotion of ETC On-board Units 153

APPENDIX

A.1 Relevant International Standards

A.2 User Service Correspondence with ISO/CD14823-1

A.3 Alternative Package Definition (Service Requirements, Major Use-case, Message Sequence, Architecture Alternatives)

Chapter 1 : Introduction

1.1 Objective of the Master Plan Study

Communication network has been achieving a remarkable breakthrough in the world today A single communication network provides various services and brings plenty of new industries

As symbolized by the Internet, information and communication services are provided through a nationwide or worldwide network that consists of a number of communication networks administrated by various organizations Data belonging to each organization is exchanged and interoperated through the network In addition, devices on the network are provided from many different suppliers by the effect of standardization of interfaces Cost reduction by competition is the result

Figure 1.1.1 Spread of Network for Information and Communication Services

The systems that provide information and communication services to road users are called Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) It is important to construct the Viet Nam Expressway Network integrated with development of the Intelligent Transport Systems It will provide the following two significant results

(1) Enhance effects by integrated development of expressway and Intelligent Transport Systems

The effects of the expressway construction will be enhanced by introduction of information and communication services for convenient usage of expressway that includes automated toll

Roadside Equipment

Roadside Antenna

Inter-city Bus Communication Network

Road Traffic Communication Network

Toll Collection Network

Roadside AntennaInternet

Roadside Antenna

Control Center Data Center

Figure 1.1.2 Enhanced Effects Expected from Integrated Development of Expressway Network and Intelligent Transport Systems

Implement ETC/ITS

0.0 2.0

3.0

4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 million

OBU installed

0.0 2.0

3.0

4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 million

OBU installed

OBU Installed

Diffuse On-board Unit of ETC

Track the Vehicles by ETC

Passing Time Data

Provide Congestion Information

Provide Travel-Time Information

Waiting time is

20 minutes at IC

Disperse the Traffic at Interchanges

Road Traffic Information by ETC

Traffic Information Centre

Toll Collection Centre

Center to Center Communication

Decelerate Vehicle to Avoid Collision

Caution

!!

Reduce the Number of Tollgates

Collect the Toll on Free-flow

Tollgate

Increase the Tollgate Capacity

ETC Lanes Manual Lane

Manual Toll Collection

Electronic Toll Collection

Plaza Computer Lane

Server

Enforcement Devices Vehicle Classifying Manual Terminal ETC

Bottlenecks on expressway Provide Compact Interchange by ETC

ETC ETC

Reduce Number of Rear-end Collisions

Promote Security of

Freight Transports

Keep Track of Heavy Truck

Keep Track of Inter-city Bus

(2) Generate new industries for services on the expressway network

The services of the Intelligent Transport Systems that will be provided on the expressway network have great potentiality to generate new industries It is expected, for example, that many different industries are to be developed through the spread of new devices; such as prepaid IC cards that will be used not only for the toll collection but also for the fee collection

of parking, gas station and resort facility at service plaza, and on-board units that will make it possible to check current condition of long-distance cargo truck operation and security of cargo

on board by using the information of toll collection

Figure 1.1.3 New Industries expected from Intelligent Transport Systems

In this study, the master plan of Intelligent Transport Systems for Viet Nam Expressway Network will be developed for achieving the following objectives:

¾ To get the whole picture of the systems to be implemented integrally with the national expressway network

¾ To clarify the basic requirements for establishing technical standards and setting up operational framework

1.2 Scope of the Study

The master plan will cover the information and communication services that will be provided

on the expressway network of more than 6,000 km in nationwide (as shown in Figure 1.2.1): the whole Intelligent Transport Systems on the Viet Nam Expressway Network The target year of the Master Plan is 2025, when expressway of 4,800 km will be constructed, referring to the Highway Network Plan in Viet Nam submitted from MOT to Prime Minister in 2005

Figure 1.2.1 Master Plan of Viet Nam Expressway Network up to 2020

1.3 Perspectives of the Study

Intelligent transport systems will provide the road network users with the advanced services using communication network It will be achieved by many subsystems and operating bodies Hence, it is necessary to discuss not only from the perspective of “what kinds of services shall

be provided for road users” but also from the perspectives of “what type of methods shall be adopted for each service” and “what types of bodies shall be set up for each methods”

(1) Perspective of transport service: “What services shall be provided?”

Various scenes of the usage of Intelligent Transport Systems are imaginable; however, the goals for its implementation shall be defined appropriately for the specific road network conditions and traffic characteristics in Viet Nam In the event of congestion, for example, it depends on the existing conditions of road network and traffic whether the most important thing is to remove the cause of congestion for securing the punctuality or to support appropriate route selection User services shall be defined appropriately to the goals, and effects of the services shall be estimated

by using achievement measures of the goals

(2) Perspective of communication system: “What methods shall be adopted for each service?”

Various system architectures are available for the purpose of realizing a service of Intelligent Transport Systems, and so the implementation cost depends on the system architecture adopted Hence, alternatives of system architecture shall be enumerated and appropriate one shall be selected according to service requirements and budgetary constraints Furthermore, it shall be considered that relationship between the service level and the implementation cost depends on communication network conditions, and that disclosure of major interface requirements for the system has particular importance

(3) Perspective of institutional framework: “What type of organizations shall be prepared?”

For successful development of Intelligent Transport Systems, the subsystems shall be managed by appropriate operating bodies Hence, requirements for operating bodies shall be brought into focus Start-up of operating bodies that are appropriate to the requirements, and cooperation among them shall be promoted

1.4 Structure of the Master Plan

In the master plan, the form of the Intelligent Transport Systems to be introduced to the Viet Nam Expressway Network will be discussed from the three perspectives presented in the previous section The structure and procedure of the master plan is shown in Figure 1.4.1

Figure 1.4.1 Structure and Procedure of the Master Plan (1) Background Issues

Issues to be addressed by introducing Intelligent Transport Systems will be clarified through the discussion on social background; such as nature, population, industry, trade, present conditions

of road network and traffic, toll system, and present conditions of communication network and traffic information dissemination in Viet Nam

Perspective of communication system

Perspective of institutional frameworkPerspective of transport service

(2) Goals for Intelligent Transport Systems

Based on the foregoing issues, goals for implementation of the Intelligent Transport Systems will be defined, referring to the relevant plans such as VITRANS The goals shall be considered as the major premises for the discussion on user services and system architecture that will be defined in the master plan

(3) User Services

The user services based on the goals will be proposed, such as nonstop toll collection and road traffic information dissemination, and their contents will be defined The user services shall be considered as the premises for the discussion on system architecture and system requirements for the Intelligent Transport Systems In addition, a toll system appropriate to the Viet Nam Expressway Network will be clarified in the discussion of nonstop toll collection

(4) Effects of User Services

Metrics for evaluation of effect of the user services will be clarified as achievement measures of the goals Approximate values of the effects expected from the implementation of Intelligent Transport Systems into the Viet Nam Expressway Network will be estimated

(5) System Development Policy

The policy for system development with efficiency at low cost will be established The policy also provides the system that allows gradual introduction and function enhancement in keeping with the improvement of the transportation infrastructure

(6) Alternative Packages for User Services

The user services will be broken down into a number of service requirements and alternative packages will be defined Each alternative package will comprise a service requirement and several architecture alternatives for realizing it as shown in the Figure 1.4.2

Figure 1.4.2 User Service and Alternative Package

In the discussion on architecture alternatives of the alternative package, equipment components and interfaces will be clarified for which technical standards should be established Details of a service requirement and architecture alternatives of each alternative package are shown in Alternative Package Definition in the APPENDIX – 3

(7) System Architecture

After integrating the architecture alternatives defined for the alternative packages, the total logical system architecture will be established that provides the common view of Intelligent Transport Systems among the persons in charge of system implementation and operation The system architecture comprises equipment packages and interfaces, and will shows subsystems that are necessary for discussing the development plan

(8) Development Plan

Development plan will be established by discussing the priority of user services Required operating bodies and their roles will be clarified, and the development policy of communication network as the backbone of the system will be established

(9) Subsequent Issues for System Implementation

Action items for the implementation of Intelligent Transport Systems will be enumerated, such

as, substantiation of operation framework, establishment of technical standards, implementation

of pilot project and countermeasures of system diffusion

Architecture Alternative 2aArchitecture Alternative 2b

Architecture Alternative 3d

Architecture Alternative 3aArchitecture Alternative 3bArchitecture Alternative 3c

User Service

Chapter 2 : Present Conditions and Issues

In this chapter, issues to be addressed by introducing Intelligent Transport Systems will be clarified through the discussion on social background; such as nature, population, industry, trade, present conditions of road network and traffic, toll system, and present conditions of communication network and traffic information dissemination in Viet Nam

2.1 Nature and Population in Vietnam

This section discusses the characteristics that have significantly affected growth of the transport sectors and will continue in the future

National Land

Vietnam covers 331,000 km2, extending north and south with a length of about 1,700 km It has a long coastline on east side of Indochina with a length of 3,260 km, facing to the South China Sea

2.2 Industry and Trade

Economy of Vietnam has been growing rapidly since the transition from socialist economy to market economy The annual growth rate of GDP is high, approximately 7%, and GDP per capita was approximately US$ 581 in 2005.In 1990, approximately 32% of GDP was produced by agricultural sector and only 25.2% was by industrial sector However, in 2004, the respective percentages were 20.4% and 39.4%

For GDP by region, South Vietnam (the north-east areas and the Mekong Delta) has 54% of the total GDP and the Red River Delta has 19%.Direct foreign investment has been rapidly increasing since the transition to market economy 73% of foreign business enterprises are located in the north-east areas of South Vietnam including Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai Province and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province

Motorcycles have been in good demand Motor vehicles have been growing at 15 ~ 70% annually although the registrations are still low, 1.2 millions in 2003

Source: Statistical Yearbook 2002

Figure 2.2.1 GDP of Vietnam

Source: Hotnam.com (Website)

0.0000.2000.4000.6000.8001.0001.2001.400

(年)

0.010.020.030.040.050.060.070.080.0

Vehicle Growth

050000100000150000200000250000300000350000

(年)

6.606.706.806.907.007.10

2.3 Current Transport System in Vietnam

Figure 2.3.1 Passenger Transport by Traffic Mode

Road sector plays an important role for both passenger and freight transport The remarkable aspect is freight transport by inland water transport between Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta in South Vietnam

2.3.2 Road Network and Facilities

Road network in Vietnam is quite well-structured The total length was 200,000 km in 1999; however, national roads share only 7% The problems of the road network are lack of clear road hierarchy and low quality due to lack of maintenance and operation system

Figure 2.3.2 Freight Transport by Traffic Mode

The whole country is covered by national road network, along which major, medium and small size cities have developed Since population concentration and motorcycle utilization in cities have been promoted, necessary time to pass through cities has been gradually increasing Therefore, national road development needs to take into consideration bypasses and expressways

In Vietnam, it is difficult to secure financial resources for infrastructure development Although infrastructure development with utilization of private resources already started, in some cases development projects have been interrupted due to shortage of funds Consequently, the government has no other choice but relying heavily on ODA Therefore, the government recognizes the importance of new-type toll collection system, for instance development and operation of toll roads, in order to secure financial resources for infrastructure development

2.3.3 Railway Transport

The railway network of Vietnam with a total length of 2,600 km consists of seven main and other branch lines which are operated by Vietnam Railways They are single-track lines, but different gauges exist Railway infrastructure is generally in bad condition, but its operation is comparatively good in technical terms

Vietnam Railways operates over 60 passenger trains per day Passenger transport volume by travel distance is predominantly by roads Only 1% of the total is by railways In Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City Section, approximately one-fourth of passenger transport volume is by railways, although it takes 34 hours Six trains are operated a day in Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City Section as of 2007 Vietnam Railways is a national company with 40,000 workers which is under Ministry of Transport and Communication It has transport and infrastructure divisions The government is responsible for infrastructure development Half of the income is earned by passenger transport Vietnam Railways operated over 90 freight trains in 1999 In terms of Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City Section, approximately 10% freight is transported by railways However, at present, the average freight load of 225 tons is low This is because of low axle-weight infrastructure In terms of all freight transport, approximately 3% of the total freight transport volume is transported

by railways

2.3.4 Inter-city Bus Transport

There are three types of inter-city buses: governmental, private route buses departing from suburban terminals, and chartered buses through travel agencies between major cities and tourist sites These three buses are competitively operated on almost the same routes (Refer to the pictures below.)

There are two bus terminals in the suburban areas of HCMC: namely, Mien Tay Bus Terminal in the eastern area for services toward Ha Noi, and Mien Dong Bus Terminal in the western area for Can Tho (Refer to the pictures below.)

Eastern Bus Terminal in HCMC Western Bus Terminal in HCMC

Governmental Inter-city Bus Private Inter-city Bus

Figure 2.3.3 Inter-city Buses and Bus Terminals

Inner-city buses and motorcycles are used to access to the bus terminals There are motorcycle parking spaces in the bus terminals which are fully occupied as shown in the pictures below This is considered as a kind of park-and-ride

Figure 2.3.4 Full Motorcycle Parking Lots in Bus Terminals

Bus departure at the suburban terminals runs according to a schedule Express buses run without any stop directly to destinations and bus terminals of cities on the routes However, normal buses stop at terminals on the routes and pick up passengers on the road if there are vacant seats, and frequently delay arrival at destinations

Most of governmental inter-city buses are large buses, but private inter-city buses are both large buses and minibuses Private minibuses are popular because they are comfortably air conditioned and the number of passengers is less As shown in the pictures below, it is very quiet at the indoor ticket counters for governmental buses regardless of air conditioners, compared with the outdoor ticket counters for private buses

Governmental Inter-city Buses Private Inter-city Buses

Figure 2.3.5 Ticket Counters at Bus Terminals

Passengers for governmental buses are comparatively less regardless of cheaper fares, compared with private buses Therefore, operation cost is partially compensated from governmental funds because of escalating fuel cost

The longest bus route from Ho Chi Minh City is the route to Hanoi and takes 37 hours (in the fastest case), slightly longer than 30 ~ 39 hours by railway However, the service of this section started from 3rd November 2006 In terms of Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi Section, railways and airplanes have been available However, railway tickets were difficult to obtain, especially during TET, as shown by the fact that some people waited through two nights Therefore, bus operation started in the same section

Figure 2.3.6 Ticket Counter for Buses from HCMC to Hanoi

Table 2.3.1 Travel Time of Inter-city Buses

2.3.5 Freight Transport

(1) Truck Freight Transport between China and Vietnam

Foreign business enterprises including Japanese ones are continuing to locate in Vietnam in accordance with the investment boom as China plus one In Vietnam where supporting industries has not been developed, most of investment targets are assembly industries of parts made in foreign countries Most of the parts are made in coastal regions of South China including Guang Dong Province Import of these parts into Vietnam promotes location of foreign business enterprises to Vietnam

China already completed construction of a 180 km long highway between Nanning, a major city

in South China, and Youyiguan near the border with Vietnam It is said that a logistics EDI system is already installed in Youyiguan At present, completion of Hanoi - Luong Son Section is expected This is the first reason for international attention being paid to cross-border land transport between Vietnam and China

Inland areas of South China, including Yunnan Province adjacent to Vietnam, have a population of over 100 million and industries surpassing Vietnamese industries However, because ports in China are more distant from these inland provinces, these inland provinces have interest in the ports in Vietnam including Hai Phong and Cai Lan From this background, China strongly

expects early development of Noi Bai - Lao Cai Section in Vietnam This is the second reason for international attention being paid to cross-border land transport between Vietnam and China However, present freight volume exported from Vietnam to China is small Therefore, if freight trucks are able to freely enter into Vietnam from China, a major issue is how to reduce transport cost on return journeys from Vietnam to China

(2) Port Transport

There are two major ports in North Vietnam: namely, Hai Phong and Cai Lan Ports The former is connected to Hanoi by NH-5 and the latter by NH-18 Many freight container trucks run between Hanoi and these two ports, taking approximately 3 hours

Because Hai Phong Port has relatively shallow water depth, ships to make calls are mainly small feeder boats The ship route between Hanoi Phong Port and Hong Kong is an important connection between South China and Vietnam However, this route is far in the west from the most important ship route between Hong Kong and Singapore in South China Sea Therefore,

it is considered that this port will not handle large container ships even in the future

Cai Lan Port has a relatively sufficient water depth of approximately 12 m and can handle 5t container ships However, full-scale use of this port will take time because it requires domestic industrial growth and further promotion of location of foreign business enterprises in Vietnam

2.4 Relevant Plan and Countermeasures on Traffic

(1) Master Plan for Road Transport Sector

The road sector master plan entitled “The Plan for Vietnam Road Transport Sector Development to

2010 and its Directions until 2020” was prepared in November 2002

Development strategies are proposed in the master plan as follows:

• Playing as a leading role for promoting industrialization and modernization

• Efficiently utilizing the existing infrastructures by operation and maintenance (O&M) and improvement

• Structuring efficient transport network in coordination with other transport modes

• Promoting development of urban public transport in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

• Developing rural roads in mountainous and remote areas to reduce poverty

The master plan proposes 329.573 trillion VND (about 2.4 trillion YEN) as the total investment cost from 2001 to 2010 However, at present (year 2006), it is considered impossible to achieve the objective of year 2010 even with consideration of all financial resources including State Budget, State Credit, bonds, revenues of governmental enterprises, foreign direct investment (FDI), BOT and ODA

(2) Highway Network Master Plan

As a countermeasure for increasing motor vehicle traffic, the government prepared a plan for over 6,000 km of highways on the initiative of MOT for purpose of realizing further development of Vietnam The government already embarked on its realization by preparing “Highway Network Plan in Vietnam by the year 2020” in 2005 and establishing VEC (Vietnam Expressway Corporation) At present, Finland consultants are preparing detailed master plan using ADB funds based on the above-mentioned master plan prepared by local consultants

(3) North-South High-speed Railway

The government approved an investment plan for development of north-south high-speed railway

by Vietnam Railways According to the plan, the completion of this railway will connect Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh within 10 hours by high-speed trains with a speed of 300 ~ 350 km/hr

2.5 Present Conditions of Traffic

2.5.1 Traffic Safety and Security

Major roads have been developed in accordance with rapid economic growth starting in the late 1980s Accordingly, traffic volume has been increasing Also, the number of road traffic accidents has been increasing due to insufficient traffic safety countermeasures, and the number of deaths reached over 11,500 in 2002 These are mainly caused by motorcycle accidents In this situation, the government has worked for reducing road traffic accidents by establishing National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC) in 1997 However, this effect is limited The road traffic accident is still a social issue as the number of deaths continues to be over 11,000 per year

Inter-city highways serve to bypass medium and small cities alongside national roads It is, therefore, considered that development of inter-city highways enhances traffic safety because inter-city traffic by large buses and trucks will be separated from inner-city traffic by motorcycles

On the other hand, it is still necessary to understand what kinds of adverse effects on traffic accidents will be caused by changes in driving behaviors when entering into general roads from inter-city highways

2.5.2 Traffic Control / Traffic Management

Traffic congestions are frequently caused by construction works such as road construction in Ho Chi Minh City In Ho Chi Minh City where road development is insufficient, rapid increase in motorcycles and cars and road construction works cause traffic congestions during peak hours in the morning and evening

In this situation, adequate information provision of traffic congestions, construction works, etc becomes important for motorcycle and car users

For reducing traffic volume by private modes, traffic engineering department is now considering introduction of environmental maintenance cost of 10,000 VND (approx US$ 0.6) per motorcycle and 200,000 VND (approx US$ 12.5) per car The annual revenues, which are estimated as 700

~ 800 billion VND (approx US$ 43.75 ~ 50.00 millions), can be utilized for development of subways and trams

2.5.3 Border Security

Twenty-four provinces have borders of total length 4,639 km with neighboring countries including China, Laos and Cambodia North Vietnam is important for exchange of people and goods with South China, South Vietnam with Cambodia, and Da Nang, a port city in Middle Vietnam with Laos Customs procedures for tourists at the border between China and Vietnam are simple, and entry into China or Vietnam is normally completed within about ten minutes

All freight is normally transferred at the border between China and Vietnam Vietnam and China are negotiating about double numbers for free passage of freight container trucks between both countries including Youyiguan - Luong Son Section, and mutual entries in some sections may become possible based on interregional agreements In addition, it is planned that customs procedure of imports and exports and transfer of goods will be conducted at distribution centers which will be constructed in both countries at about 90 km from the border In other words, bonded transportation in the distribution centers will become possible by designating them as bonded areas This realization will contribute to drastically shortening lead times of imports and exports between both countries and also enhancing border security

In Ho Chi Minh City, introduction of electronic customs report system has enabled customs procedures to be handled through service agencies English and IT skills of customs staffs are gradually being enhanced In Vietnam, efficiency of customs procedure presently continues to be improving for import-export business enterprises

In terms of customs procedures using electronic customs report system, only 5% of goods are directly checked by customs staffs and the rest is automatically checked by the system This system serves as reciprocal checking to ensure accuracy and protect against corruption Import-export business enterprises need to retain contract documents with customs offices for five years This electronic customs report system is planned to be introduced in other cities such as Hai Phong

Sagawa Express is the only foreign business enterprise that has a total logistics license in Vietnam, and has started operation of bond warehouses and bond transport alongside NH-18 between Hanoi and Cai Lan Port in North Vietnam as well as in South Vietnam It is expected that this will contribute to rapid increase in land transport between the border and Cai Lan

Yusen Air & Sea Service (Vietnam) Co., Ltd opened bonded warehouses in Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone adjacent to Ho Chi Minh Port The area is located between Ho Chi Minh City

and Long Thanh New International Airport and Cai Mep-Thi Vai Port which are under planning Therefore, this area is expected to contribute to shortening lead times of imports and exports in Vietnam

2.6 Present Conditions of Information/Communication Services

2.6.1 Internet Services/Communication Network

Recently, internet use has been rapidly disseminating in Vietnam During only one year from June 2003 to May 2004, the number of internet users jumped from 1.9 to 4.7 million The number of internet users reached 14.2 million in October 2006 In Vietnam, 800,000 IP addresses have been provided and 405,000 of them are ADSL users Internet dissemination rate is quickly catching up with the levels in other Asian countries

Vietnamese websites are rapidly increasing in accordance with the increase in the number of domestic internet users, and are accessed by Vietnamese both domestically and from abroad

Because of active business investment by Vietnam Datacommunication Company (VDC) as well as rapid user increase, the total of backbone line bands increased from 210 Mbps to 1,038 Mbps during only 8 months from April to December in 2006 In addition, Vietnam Post & Telecommunications (VNPT) plans to develop additional lines to Japan and USA

However, communication environment in Vietnam is not sufficient from a viewpoint of international standards Compared with other countries with the similar GDP per capita, the number of phone subscriptions and internet users is large, but that of mobile-phone subscriptions and personal computer ownership is small

2.6.2 Cellular Phone Service

There are two types of cellular phone services in Vietnam: namely, GSM and CDMA systems Three private companies deal with GSM system, and one private company with CDMA system There are various systems such as future payment system, pre-paid system where a fixed amount of money is levied every day and call charge is cheaper than that of future payment, and other services only for receiving calls or for e-mails The number of future payment subscribers and pre-paid users is very large, and the number of pre-paid users is much larger than that of future payment subscribers

2.6.3 Radio Communication

At present, main subjects of communication environment are cable installation as well as development of main communication system There are various kinds of lines especially installed at utility poles in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi

Therefore, radio broadband network is expected to be disseminated for solving this problem Because fixed telephone lines are not installed except in urban areas, radio communication network is expected to be disseminated, because new installation of fixed telephones costs much and takes time

Test operation of internet services by WiMAX, high-speed radio communication technology, started in Hanoi from the middle of December 2006 and targets actual services from the middle of

2007 There is also a future plan of mobile communication services by mobile WiMAX (802.16e-2005)

2.6.4 Banking Service

Bank sector in Vietnam has significantly been reformed since the late 1980s Four governmental commercial banks were established from the central bank Further reformations were achieved such as establishment of non-governmental banks, opening of new branches of foreign banks and restructuring of governmental commercial banks In accordance with reformations of bank sector, VND deposits have been increasing in Vietnam

On the other hand, ATM machines of banks have been disseminated in large cities, and communication network as the backbone of them also has been implemented However, credit businesses for individual users such as home mortgage did not yet start Provision of credit cards and loans for employees of contracted corporation is a main part of unsecured credit businesses Normally, they are debit cards by deposits and equity loans by use of trusteeship, cars, etc

Banking services by foreign banks started for foreigners living in Vietnam, and currently Vietnamese customers are increasing

2.7 Background Issues for Intelligent Transport Systems

For the introduction of intelligent transport systems to an inter-city expressway system, issues and situation we have to pay attention to are discussed in this section

(1) Raise the level of inter-city road network that covers country remarkably extends north and south and that connects two metropolises at a long distance, including efficient use

Viet Nam has a 2,000 km long national territory in the north-south direction Two large metropolises of Viet Nam, namely Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, have five million urban population and 2 million urban population respectively In the last several years, both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have increased their urban population rapidly and they are expected to continue to grow more as primary national centers

Viet Nam is divided into two large economic regions which are centering at these two metropolises Road and railway networks have been developed connecting to these two primary centers

Since the political unification of long-divided Viet Nam, a strong economic and social integration of the two large metropolises is one of the important policies of the government It

is highly expected to increase the efficiency of national economy and to increase the level of economic integration of the two large metropolises by developing high-level inter-city road networks including expressways

(2) Secure mobility sufficient to address population concentration in the metropolitan area

The largest metropolis in Viet Nam is Ho Chi Minh City, whose urban population is around 5 million (2004) The second largest one is Hanoi, which has 2 million urban populations (2004) Their populations grew at annual rates of 3.7% and 6.0% respectively in years of 2000~2004 It is expected that these two metropolises will continue to grow beyond their existing administrative boundaries

The emergence of such large metropolises will require high urban mobility within the metropolises in a variety of ways, including urban expressway, mass transit systems and bus rapid transit

In this situation, inter-city expressway systems and intra-urban transportation systems need to

be integrated for high mobility

(3) Reduce time distance enormously required for road transportation that have important share of inter-provincial passenger transport

In Viet Nam, bus is the major mode for most distances of inter-city passenger transport Between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the share of air transport is nearly 50% For distances

of 800~1,100 km, railway’s share is around 20% Except for other distances, bus is the major transport mode

It takes 37 hours by bus between Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, while railway takes 30~39 hours Buses have to go through many cities and towns along National Highway No.1 from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi Inter-city road transport of busses and trucks must go through those cities and towns in a mix of many motorcycles Recently some bypasses were constructed, but such development has been slow Then this could be a major reason why busses cannot run at high speeds

Ferry boats have been replaced by bridges and bypasses have been constructed It is considered that passenger demand for long-distance bus transport will increase gradually In this situation, further upgrade of high speed transport and reduction of travel time is desirable

(4) Reduce time distance enormously required for road transportation that have important share of inter-provincial freight transport

Major areas of generation and destination of freight traffic are Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, North Eastern Region, Mekong River Delta Inland waterways have relatively high share in distances up to 400 km in freight transport, especially in Mekong River Delta Beyond 500

km, railway is stronger than other transport modes

In all distances, road transport has the most important role for freight transport Especially, between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the share of road transport is as high as 70% Time distance of truck transport is influenced by road condition in provinces and mixture of through traffic and urban traffic

Freight transport supporting the national economy is expected to achieve high efficiency, as well as high speed and punctuality

(5) Establish inter-city road network that provides sufficient route selectivity even in the event of accidents/disaster, including efficient use

Viet Nam has developed as much as 130,000 km of road networks Among the figure, 15,200

km roads are managed by the national government However, national trunk roads are limited For example, National Highway No.1 runs along the coast as a spine of the country However,

no alternative roads to National Highway No.1 have yet been developed

There is an inland route connecting National Highways No.80, No.20, No.27, No 14, No.15 and No.6 However, these roads are not in very good condition except for those sections near

Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi Moreover, this route is very far from National Highway No.1

to provide an alternative route to National Highway No.1

For development of the north-south coastal corridor (Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi), it is necessary not only to upgrade sections of National Highway No.1, but also it is one of the most

important development strategies to provide a new alternative road (including expressway)

At the same time, it is necessary to consider possible measures by which it becomes possible to integrate the existing national highway No.1 and the future expressway efficiently

(6) Secure road capacity sufficient to address rapid increase in the number of car ownership

The number of sales of sedans had been far behind motorcycles even in Ho Chi Minh City However, in recent years, the number of car registration including those of sedans, buses and trucks, is very much increasing Number of registered vehicles in Vietnam is as follows

This future motorization might have a huge impact on urban and inter-urban roads It is necessary to pay more attention to secure road capacity, as well as to improve traffic safety in the future

(7) Restrain rise in traffic accidents due to prospective increase in velocity of road traffic

National Highways, in actuality, have dual functions One is to constitute major urban streets

of regional cities/towns The other is to provide an inter-city linkage of through traffic Since motorcycles and truck traffic are mixed, the probability of traffic accidents is high and on increase

Furthermore, when an expressway system is introduced, many drivers will experience high-speed driving on expressways As a result, there might be a change in driving behaviors

of many drivers on the existing roads, resulting in more traffic accidents

It is desirable to implement some measures to restrain drivers from driving cars at very high speeds

(8) Raise the level of infrastructure development aiming at growth of tourism industry

In the recent years, the number of foreign tourists is increasing because of tourism attractions including urban-based tourism attractions, cultural and historical heritages, minority people living

in inland areas, etc In addition, the number of foreigners who stay for business in Vietnam is also increasing and they also do sightseeing on holidays, contributing to tourism industries

Tourism potentials in Vietnam scatter in Vietnam extending north and south If it is possible to move at high speed, it becomes possible to easily visit and enjoy more tourism attractions However, in the present road condition, tourism sites are limited for people staying in HCMC for tourism or business without long periods of car driving The same can be applied to domestic tourists

Development of north-south highways will contribute to more efficiently utilizing the tourism potentials scattering in Vietnam

(9) Create market aiming at strengthening of international competitiveness of information/ telecommunication industry

IT and communication industries are important for industrial development because developing countries such as Vietnam can catch up with other countries in these industries With regards

to the industrial field of advanced transport system, the system itself can be developed by assembling available materials and equipments in the market Furthermore, its operation can create new business in IT and communication industries The Intelligent Transport System can be regarded as a means to develop market for strengthening international competitiveness

of IT and communication industries

(10) Realize speedy and highly reliable border inspection

Vietnam is adjacent to inland areas of China (including Yunnan province), Laos and Cambodia Vietnam can play an important role for international trade of these inland areas with utilization

of favorable ports, and can promote economic development by strengthening industrial coordination with neighboring countries It is predicted that international exchange of people and goods will be activated by import of parts from China to Vietnam, business activities of Vietnamese enterprises at the national border, exchange of goods with Thailand through Laos, etc Therefore, it is necessary for Vietnam to utilize the Intelligent Transport Systems for these kinds of cross-border management

In addition, looking into the relationship between Vietnam and China, China considers Vietnam

as an entrance for exchange of people and goods with Southeast Asia Highways in South China and inter-city highways in Vietnam will serve for exchange of people and goods between Southeast Asia and China Therefore, the Intelligent Transport Systems need to be utilized for cross-border management between Vietnam and China

Chapter 3 : Goals for Intelligent Transport Systems

Intelligent Transport Systems are the applications of advanced information and communication technology that is rapidly moving toward widespread use Implementation cost of the systems will depend on the supply of mass-produced devices based on international standardization Hence, goals for the Intelligent Transport Systems are to be defined with broader spectrum of viewpoints as well as for resolving regional issues

In this chapter, the following four nationwide goals are defined for the Intelligent Transport Systems to be implemented integrally with the Viet Nam Expressway Network until the target year 2025 These goals are based on the background issues discussed earlier

¾ Goal-1: Provide prompt and punctual inter-urban transport

¾ Goal-2: Improve safety and security of road transport

¾ Goal-3: Promote industries by introducing Intelligent Transport Systems

¾ Goal-4: Coordinate withIntelligent Transport Systems for metropolitan area

3.1 Goal-1: Provide Prompt and Punctual Inter-urban Transport

Goal-1 aims at addressing the following issues clarified in the forgoing chapter:

• Raise the level of inter-city road network that covers country remarkably extends north and south and that connects two metropolises at a long distance, including efficient use

• Reduce time distance enormously required for road transportation that have important share

of inter-provincial passenger transport

• Reduce time distance enormously required for road transportation that have important share

of inter-provincial freight transport

• Establish inter-city road network that provides sufficient route selectivity even in the event of accidents/disaster, including efficient use

• Secure road capacity sufficient to address rapid increase in the number of car ownership

3.2 Goal-2: Improve Safety and Security of Road Transport

Goal-2 aims at addressing the following issues clarified in the forgoing chapter:

• Restrain rise in traffic accidents due to prospective increase in velocity of road traffic

• Realize speedy and highly reliable border inspection

3.3 Goal-3: Promote Industries by Introducing Intelligent Transport Systems

Goal-3 aims at addressing the following issues clarified in the forgoing chapter:

• Raise the level of infrastructure development aiming at growth of tourism industry

• Create market aiming at strengthening of international competitiveness of information/ telecommunication industry

• Realize speedy and highly reliable border inspection

Goal-4 aims at addressing the following issues clarified in the forgoing chapter:

• Secure mobility sufficient to address population concentration in the metropolitan area

• Secure road capacity sufficient to address rapid increase in the number of car ownership

Chapter 4 : User Services

In this chapter, user services to be provided in Viet Nam will be proposed as the premises for discussion on the Intelligent Transport Systems, and their contents will be defined

4.1 General of User Service

The user services aiming at the goals for intelligent transport systems discussed in the foregoing chapter will be proposed, as shown in Figure 4.1.1

Figure 4.1.1 User Services to be Provided Aiming at the Goals

An overview of ITS services that have been discussed around the world are shown in ISO/CD

14813 The correspondence between the six user services in Figure 4.1.1 and ITS services in

Goal-1:

Provide Prompt and Punctual Inter-urban Transport Nonstop Toll Collection

Road Traffic Information

Dissemination

Heavy Truck Control

Goal-4:

Coordinate with Intelligent Transport Systems for Metropolitan Area

Inter-city Bus Information Provision

Convenient Parking Assistance

Road Pricing

4.2 Nonstop Toll Collection

4.2.1 Summary of Service Contents and Effects

This service will relieve the bottlenecks at barrier tollgates and will provide smooth traffic of incoming and outgoing at interchanges This service will also provide reduction of the number of tollbooths and will solve the problem of land acquisition for tollgates in suburban area where traffic congestion will become to be an issue in the future Computerization on toll management will vastly reduce uncollected toll revenue due to failure in counting vehicles and that in detecting vehicle class Furthermore, this service will make it possible to measure travel time between interchanges and to provide road traffic information at low cost by data communication using on-board units for toll collection

Figure 4.2.1 Nonstop Toll Collection

The following effects will be provided by this user service:

• Increase lane carrying capacity at tollgates

• Reduce queue length at tollgates

• Reduce administration and regulatory cost

• Increase man-power savings

• Reduce emissions including carbon-dioxide

4.2.2 Tariff Rate Systems

Tariff rate is an important precondition that could be a budgetary constraint on the Intelligent Transport Systems, implementation arrangement of toll management center and roadside equipment, and effects of road traffic information provision In this chapter, different tariff rate systems (flat tariff, sectional tariff and distance proportional tariff) are compared to recommend an appropriate toll system for the Viet Nam Expressway Network

(1) Flat Tariff System

Flat tariff is a system in which fix rates by vehicle class are set independent of distance This

is the most simple tariff rate system, and is suitable for the toll collection on a particular road section This system is also suitable for toll collection on an urban toll road network of moderate length and in which securing route selectivity is important

Flat tariff has already been adopted for the toll collection of bridges and tunnels in Viet Nam MOF (Ministry of Finance) in Viet Nam established the toll rates by vehicle class corresponding

to seating capacity or designed cargo tonnage as shown in Table 4.2.1 The peculiarity of this system is that tariff rates are set independently for difference among locations and scales of road facilities

Table 4.2.1 Toll Rates for Roads Invested with State Budget Capital in Vietnam

Par value Ordinal

number Road toll-liable means (VND/ticket/trip)Single-trip ticket (VND/ticket/month) Monthly ticket (VND/ticket/quarter)Quarterly ticket

1 Two wheelers, three wheelers, mopeds and the like 1,000 10,000

2 Lambretta, rudimentary trucks, tractors 4,000 120,000 300,000

3 Cars of under 12 seats, trucks of a tonnage of under 2 tons and

800,000

4 Cars of between 12 and 30 seats, trucks of a tonnage of between 2

5 Cars of 31 seats or more; trucks of a tonnage of between 4 and

- Promulgated together with the Finance Ministry’s Circular No 90/2004/TT-BTC of September 7, 2004

- The tonnage of each type of traffic means subject to the above toll rates shall be the designed tonnage

- For the application of toll rates to container lorries (including specialized trailer haulers): They shall be subject to the application of toll rates based on their designed tonnage, regardless of whether they are loaded with cargoes

or not, including cases of carrying goods by containers with a tonnage lower than the designed tonnage

The flat tariff system is not suitable for the national expressway covering the whole country of Viet Nam This is because the tariff rates for those who use a long section of the expressway

and for those who use a short section of the expressway are treated as the same Application of flat tariff to the Viet Nam Expressway Network will results in unfairness among users

(2) Sectional Tariff System

Sectional tariff is a system in which an expressway is divided into different sections and a fix rate is set in each section That is, flat tariff sections are continuously laid on an expressway network This system is useful in the case that phased development/operation is implemented and in another case that neighboring sections are managed by different operators

However, there is possibility to create unfair situation among expressway users, because an expressway network cannot be divided into such sections with similar length for the reason of interchange locations For example, in Figure 4.2.2, although the section length between IC-C and D is only one fifth of that between IC-B and C, road users have to pay the same toll amount for both of the sections Hence, it is not appropriate to adopt such sectional tariff with fixed amount on the Viet Nam Expressway Network

Figure 4.2.2 Sectional Tariff with Fixed Amount System

On the other hand, when different toll rates dependent on distance are set for each section, this method can be nearly equal to distance proportional tariff

An outline of sectional tariff proportional to section length is shown in Figure 4.2.3 In this case, fairness for every driver in any section on the expressway network can be secured Furthermore, setting appropriate section lengths, harmonization with the existing toll rates on the national

highways by MOF also can be secured

at Tollgate-1

Distance

Toll Amount for a Single VehicleToll Amount

Figure 4.2.3 Sectional Tariff Proportional to Section Length

(3) Distance Proportional Tariff System

Distance proportional tariff is a system in which a tariff rate is calculated and collected depending

on the distance between an incoming interchange and an outgoing interchange In this system, a rate is set responding to the amount of benefit to be gained by expressway users In this sense, the distance proportional tariff is a rational system for the national expressway in Viet Nam However, in this case, the toll amount will increase without end corresponding to the increase

of section length, and the policy of the existing toll rates cannot be secured A new policy for the toll rates has to be established

Figure 4.2.4 Distance Proportional Tariff System

In the master plan, it is recommended that the distance proportional tariff should be adopted for the Viet Nam Expressway Network The recommendation includes also the sectional tariff

Toll AmountIC-A to B

Distance

Toll Amount for a Single VehicleToll Amount

Toll AmountIC-A to C

Toll Amount IC-A to D

Toll AmountIC-A to E

4.2.3 Tollgate Arrangement

In this section, an appropriate tollgate arrangement will be recommended for Viet Nam Expressway

Network, through comparison on tollgate arrangement for open system and closed system

(1) Open System

In the case of open system, an expressway is not completely enclosed by tollgates, which are arranged either on main lines or on ramps As a result, there are no sections whose incomings and outgoings are fully controlled by the tollgates There are the following different types of

tollgates arrangement for the open system

Tollgate Arrangement for Flat Tariff

Figure 4.2.5 shows two types of tollgate arrangement for flat tariff One is on-ramp collection, and the other is off-ramp collection As previously mentioned, however flat tariff system is not suitable for Viet Nam expressway Network

Figure 4.2.5 Tollgate Arrangement for Flat Tariff

Tollgate Arrangement for Sectional Tariff

The tollgate arrangement for sectional tariff is shown in Figure 4.2.6 In this arrangement, barrier tollgates provide bottlenecks against smooth traffic flow, and users need to stop many times on mainlines Hence, this is not suitable for the national expressway of thousands km

Figure 4.2.6 Tollgate Arrangement for Sectional Tariff

Main Line of Toll Road

Tollgate

Tollgate

Main Line of Toll Road

a) On-ramp toll collection

Tollgate

Bridge (or Tunnel)

Tollgate Main Line of Toll Road

b) Off-ramp toll collection

Tollgate Bridge (or Tunnel)

Figure 4.2.7 Barrier Tollgate

On the other hand, adoption of free-flow tollgate, shown in Figure 4.2.8, is a method that does not create bottlenecks on mainlines At the free-flow tollgates, toll is collected automatically

by using road-to-vehicle radio communication between roadside antenna on a gantry scaffold and on-board unit in a vehicle The free-flow tollgate allows toll collection from the vehicles that keep speed of over 100 km/hr

Figure 4.2.8 Free-flow Tollgate

The combination of free-flow tollgates and sectional tariff responding to section distance will solve the problem of both bottlenecks on mainlines and unfairness of tariff, while enabling

phased development/operation of expressway network and existence of different operators in charge of adjacent sections Furthermore, as shown later in this section, the combination of free-flow tollgates and sectional tariff responding to section distance could largely reduce the land amount to be acquired for tollgates

Actual implementation of free-flow tollgates is still limited to ERP (Electronic Road Pricing) in Singapore However, by 2010, this system will be introduced to the expressway in Japan and Malaysia In near future, this system will become mainstream of tollgate arrangements

(2) Closed System

In the case of closed system, an expressway is completely enclosed by tollgates The incoming and outgoing vehicles of expressway are both fully controlled by the tollgates Figure 4.2.9 shows tollgate arrangement of the closed system Judgment of allowing a vehicle to enter the expressway or not is to be conducted at incoming tollgates Toll collection is to be conducted at

outgoing tollgates

Figure 4.2.9 Tollgate Arrangement for Distance Proportional Tariff

Figure 4.2.10 Interchange Tollgate

Main Line of Toll Road