Hope for Hanoi? New bus system could cut pollution … if enough people use it

A new $53m BRT (bus rapid transit) system has the power to reduce Hanoi's dreadful air pollution. Persuading residents of Vietnam's rapidly expanding capital to ditch their motorbikes and private cars, however, will be another story

From his high-rise office building in Hanoi, Tran Dung can barely see his city's skyline behind the thick layer of smog. Before leaving work, the 25-year-old executive assistant checks the pollution reading on his AirVisual app, which provides real-time measurements of PM2.5 - the tiny particles found in smog that can damage your throat and lungs.

Hanoi's PM2.5 levels typically range from 100 to 200 micrograms per cubic metre - regularly within the globally acknowledged "unhealthy" category. But on 19 December last year, they hit "hazardous levels" at 343I1/4g/m³, which was higher than Beijing.