A solution to Vietnam’s worsening traffic problem?

It was reported in an article that the Vietnamese government plans to reduce tariffs and luxury taxes that will send car prices down by 42% in 2019. Their plan is to decrease prices of cars with smaller engines, and increase prices of cars with bigger engines, 3L and above.

Generally, the average price of a car in Vietnam is twice as much compared to other countries. Though the huge dip in car prices may boost car sales, it will also worsen congestion in major cities like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The current transport infrastructure in Vietnam is already highly strained by an over reliance on motorcycles (more than 43 million registered units) due to insufficient road infrastructure and public transport system. By allowing smaller ASEAN cars to flood the market, new car owners will also not let go of their motorcycles, so Vietnam will still be faced with the same unresolved traffic and road issues.

In my opinion, exploring ways to lower the cost of cars to ensure accessibility to those who could potentially afford them is a good move — as it helps reduce the emphasis on income inequality (cars not restricted to the wealthy). But the government should also explore tax benefits for incentivizing a more efficient car ownership ecosystem. For instance, dramatically lowering taxes for 7+ seaters, increase taxes for 2 seaters, etc? Implementing tax rebates for increased car usage (e.g. multiple household registration to encourage car pooling)? More public car parking spaces? The government could also increase the minimum age of motorcycle licence to 21 years old, and/or encourage bike pooling by incentivizing households with only 1 registered bike (e.g. low registration fee). I feel that the government is working towards the right objective but their solution to success still requires tinkering and ultimately the cooperation of the entire population.