One of the first things foreigners notice when they arrive in Vietnam is the traffic. Everyone who visits comments on the sea of motorbikes that weave with seemingly no order or strategy. While people in Vietnam are innovative and bold with their use of motorbikes (stacking families of 4, refrigerators and mountains of packages on the two-wheeled vehicles), they are not the most sustainable, safest or efficient form of transportation. However, cars are not the solution to Ho Chi Minh City's congestion problems and would worsen the state of transportation in the city. The solution is not explicitly clear. That is why I am in Vietnam -- to explore how to develop a metro train system and work to reimagine transit in Vietnam.
Before I arrived in Vietnam, I learned a lot about the use of motorbikes in the country. I learned how there are 700 motorbikes per 1,000 people, compared to just 30 cars. This is a sharp divergence from Los Angeles where there are 540 cars per 1,000 people. Much of Ho Chi Minh City is constructed to support the heavy use of motorbikes. Sidewalks are built to allow motorbikes to drive up and park, there are dedicated motorbike lanes on busy streets and even coffee drinks are sold with plastic handles so you can hang them from your handlebars (no cupholders on a motorbike!).
