The Ho Chi Minh City Centre for Public Transport Management has announced that it will begin offering free bus rides to senior citizens.

The free rides will be available to senior citizens 80 years and older through 2015, and beginning in 2016, bus rides will also be free for those 75 years or older.

The elderly will also have prioritised seating at the front of buses, and will receive assistance from bus drivers and conductors.

The free rides are called for in the national target plan for the welfare of elderly people living in HCM City during the 2014-20 period.

Previously, the municipal People's Committee had implemented free bus programmes for disabled riders and children under 12 years old.-VNA