It also aims to achieve a passenger satisfaction rate of over 80 percent and ensure that at least 95 percent of bus departures operate on schedule.
On July 2, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Hoang Nguyen Dinh signed Decision No. 3974/QD-UBND promulgating a plan to implement Resolution No. 09/2026/NQ-HDND issued by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council on providing support for users of the city's public bus transport services.
The plan is intended to ensure the timely and effective implementation of the support policy for bus passengers while maintaining transparency, accountability, and efficient use of the state budget, preventing losses, waste, or policy abuse.
The policy will be implemented from July 1 through December 31, 2026, and will apply to 134 intra-city bus routes currently operating across Ho Chi Minh City. Interprovincial bus routes, tourist bus services, airport connector buses, and certain other specialized transport services are not covered by the support policy.
The city aims to increase bus ridership by at least 30 percent during the second half of 2026 compared to the corresponding period in 2025, raise the passenger satisfaction index to above 80 percent, and achieve an on-time departure rate of at least 95 percent. In addition, it strives to ensure that, by the end of 2026, 100 percent of intra-city buses will operate on electricity or other environmentally friendly energy sources.
The support policy will be implemented in two phases.
Phase 1, from July 1 to September 30, 2026, passengers will receive a 100 percent fare waiver without being required to complete identity verification or authentication.
Phase 2, from October 1 to December 31, 2026, the fare exemption will continue but will be linked to passenger authentication and identity verification through a citizen identification card, the VNeID application, bank cards, e-wallets, the MultiGo application, or other electronic methods as prescribed by the competent authorities.
The total budget earmarked for implementing the policy during the last six months of 2026 is estimated at approximately VND630 billion (US$23.94 million), including up to VND231 billion (US$8.8 million) for Phase 1 and up to VND399 billion (US$15.2 million) for Phase 2.
