Daily SumUp

Vietnam is taking bold steps to clean up its streets – and quiet them down. Starting next summer, the major downtown areas of Hanoi will ban all gasoline-powered motorcycles as part of a program to cut down on emissions.

The plan will go into effect on July 1, 2026, and then will expand the following year to cover more districts outside of downtown, and eventually include gasoline-powered cars as well. Other major cities like Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang are now studying similar measures.

The plan is part of Vietnam’s national goal to phase out gas-powered two-wheelers entirely by 2045. And in a country where motorcycles are the lifeblood of daily transportation, with an estimated 72 million of them on the road, this marks a seismic shift.