2025-11-04
Tet load and the highway out of Hanoi
Families leaving Hanoi for the Tet holiday do not distribute themselves evenly along the ring. They bunch at coach stations, petrol forecourts, and the first rest stop after the toll. A site that looks idle in October can be the busiest radio neighbour in late January.
We ask operators for last year’s counter values at those landmarks, even when the sample is imperfect. A partial counter is still better than assuming the highway site will absorb the queue.
Municipal closures change the picture. If a particular ramp is shut, the queue moves to the next interchange and so does the demand. The expansion study should name the closure, not only the sector azimuth.
Write the review in calendar days, not in average busy hour. Committees remember the photograph of the rest-stop car park more readily than a smoothed curve.