Leaving the motorbike, "going on the train" to lighten the burden of expenses
At 6:30 am, Mr. Tran Quoc Duy (34 years old), a technical staff working at a technology company on Nguyen Hue street (Saigon ward), left his house in an alley on La Xuan Oai street (Tang Nhon Phu ward) by motorbike. Instead of driving straight to the center as before, he only traveled about 10 minutes to the High-Tech Park station, parked his motorbike and got on Metro Line 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien).
“Before, every day I rode a motorbike more than 20km to the center. Going early was better, but being a little late would cause traffic jams from Hanoi Highway to Saigon Bridge, many days it took an hour and a half to get there,” Mr. Duy recounted.
About three weeks ago, he decided to try taking the metro. After only a few days, he realized that this way of going was more stable and less stressful. He got on the train at 6:50 am, about 7:20 am to the City Opera House station. From there, walk for nearly 10 minutes to get to the company. The total time is only about 35 - 40 minutes, faster than riding a motorbike during rush hour.
Mr. Duy calculated that if he rides a motorbike, he spends nearly 1.5 million VND per month on gasoline and parking. When switching to the metro, he buys a monthly ticket for 300,000 VND, plus parking costs, the total cost is still significantly lower.
Not only Mr. Duy, many other passengers are also gradually forming similar habits. Parking lots around the starting stations such as the High-Tech Park, Thu Duc, and the new Mien Dong Bus Station are always full from early morning.
Sharp increase in visitor numbers
Ms. Van Thi Huu Tam - Deputy Director of Urban Railway Company Limited No. 1 (HURC 1) - said that the number of passengers on the Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien Metro line has continuously increased in the past 3 weeks.
In the period from March 7 - 13, this metro line served nearly 460,000 passengers, an increase of about 12% compared to the previous week. From March 17 - 23, this number continued to increase to more than 480,000 passengers, an average of nearly 70,000 passengers per day, equivalent to an increase of about 17% after 3 weeks.
Not only the metro, the bus system in Ho Chi Minh City also recorded a strong recovery in passenger volume.
According to Mr. Le Hoan - Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center, if calculated for both metro and buses, the total number of passengers reached about 340,000 per day, an increase of 35% compared to the end of February and 12% higher than the same period in 2025.
Currently, the whole city has 179 bus routes (of which 109 routes are subsidized), with 42 units operating 2,112 vehicles. Notably, there are 1,001 electric buses, accounting for about 62% of the total number of vehicles; for subsidized routes alone, the rate of electric vehicles reaches about 65%.
Regarding ticket prices, only 9 transport units on non-subsidized routes adjusted to increase from 20% to 40%, while the remaining routes, especially routes subsidized by the budget, still maintained the same ticket price and operated stably.
According to Mr. Hoan, in the past time, the city's transport sector has implemented many solutions to improve service quality such as putting new buses and electric vehicles into operation, expanding cashless payments. Free tickets on Fridays every week when making electronic payments, along with many incentives during events, also contribute to attracting passengers.
In the coming time, the Center will continue to monitor travel demand to adjust bus operations appropriately, and at the same time strengthen connection with the metro. Bus routes will be reviewed, routes and frequency will be adjusted according to train operating hours, helping passengers conveniently transfer between types of transport.
At the same time, the city will expand cashless payments with QR codes, e-wallets and bank cards throughout the network; at the same time, gradually upgrade wharves, transfer stations, and waiting rooms in a modern and convenient direction, especially at metro connection points and areas with high travel demand.
