Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City plans to offer free bus rides on 135 routes across the city from early May under a proposal submitted by the municipal Department of Construction to the city People’s Committee for consideration.
The proposal forms part of a draft resolution on support policies for users of public bus services, which is expected to be submitted to the municipal People’s Council for approval in April under a simplified procedure.
The policy follows guidance from Politburo member and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Tran Luu Quang at the fifth conference of the municipal Party Committee for the 2025–2030 term held on April 1.
According to the Department of Construction, the measure aims to ease travel costs for residents amid rising fuel prices while encouraging greater use of public transport, reducing reliance on private vehicles, and contributing to lower traffic accidents and environmental pollution.
The proposed resolution would apply to 135 bus routes operating in the city, including 109 subsidised routes and 26 non-subsidised ones. Beneficiaries include bus passengers as well as transport enterprises and cooperatives providing public bus services.
If approved, the programme is expected to cost about 930 billion VND (more than 35.3 million USD) for the remaining eight months of 2026, starting from May. Of the total, around 627 billion VND will be allocated for the subsidised routes and about 303 billion VND for the non-subsidised routes, all funded from the city budget.
Following administrative restructuring, Ho Chi Minh City currently has 180 bus routes operated by 42 transport units, including 109 subsidised and 71 non-subsidised routes. Among the non-subsidised services are 49 intra-provincial routes, including 26 regular routes, 18 airport connection routes and five double-decker sightseeing routes, along with 22 inter-provincial routes.
The city’s bus network serves an average of about 270,000 passengers per day.
At present, 2,432 buses are operating across the network, including 1,185 electric buses and 153 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses, accounting for about 55% of the fleet. The city has also developed eight electric bus charging stations with 153 charging points and four CNG refuelling stations.
In 2026, the city has allocated 1.334 trillion VND to subsidise operations on the 109 supported bus routes. Ho Chi Minh City has also maintained policies providing free bus rides for children under six, the elderly, people with disabilities and those with meritorious service to the revolution./.
