Ho Chi Minh City plans free bus travel from July 1 through year-end

The policy was approved on Friday during a mid-year sitting held by the municipal People’s Council.

The initiative aims to lower commuting costs for residents, promote public transport usage, accelerate the adoption of cashless payment systems, reduce dependence on private vehicles, and contribute to lower traffic congestion, accidents, and air pollution.

The waiver program will apply to 135 bus routes currently operating within Ho Chi Minh City, including 109 subsidized routes and 26 non-subsidized ones.

The selected routes serve the daily transportation needs of a large number of residents.

Meanwhile, 22 interprovincial bus routes have been excluded because they involve coordination with other localities.

Also, five tourist bus routes using open-top vehicles and 18 airport connector routes linking urban centers and tourism hubs to the city’s airport will also remain outside the scope of the subsidy due to their specialized service nature.

The municipal administration plans to implement the bus fare-free policy in two phases.

During the first phase, from July through September, residents will be able to travel on eligible buses free of charge without any identity verification requirements.

Transport operators will be reimbursed by the city based on the number of bus trips operated.

The second phase, running from October through December, will require passengers to verify their identities when using bus services.

Verification can be completed through electronic methods such as identification cards, the VNeID digital identity platform, bank cards, e-wallets, or the MultiGo application.

Financial support will be calculated based on actual passenger ridership recorded by the electronic ticketing system and cross-checked with vehicle tracking data.

Ho Chi Minh City is set to spend VND665 billion (US$25.3 million) sourced from the city’s budget on the six-month fare-free program.