Each vehicle has a ticket type.
According to Mr. Pham Van Tien - a Vietnamese student studying in Taiwan (China), he uses a combination of train, bus and bicycle to get to school every day. Switching between means of transport easily makes the 23km journey only take about 35 minutes. When using the services, Mr. Tien only needs one type of ticket.
"My ticket can be used for services such as subway, airport express train, bus, bicycle to travel in 4 cities: Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan. Buying tickets and topping up money is also quite easy at automatic ticket machines, convenience stores or by phone," Mr. Tien shared.
In fact, interconnected tickets for common use for all types of public passenger transport (HKCC) are applied by many countries, bringing convenience to passengers. However, in our country, it has only stopped at inter-route bus tickets.
In Hanoi, there are currently many types of public transport, including buses, skytrains, and bicycles. Each means of transport uses a different type of ticket. Accordingly, bus tickets can be used to travel on many bus routes but cannot be used to travel on skytrains or bicycles; while train tickets on the Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station route cannot be used when traveling on the Cat Linh - Ha Dong route and vice versa...
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai - Vice President of the Hanoi HKCC Transport Association - said that the connection not only brings benefits in terms of transportation, economy and society, but is also an important factor in the sustainable development strategy of modern cities.
"An integrated public transport system requires comprehensive investment and effective management from planning, technology, policy to infrastructure. This is a long-term strategy that requires the coordination of many stakeholders, from the government, businesses to the people, to build an advanced, modern and sustainable public transport system," said Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai.
According to some traffic experts, the early application of interoperable tickets will improve many problems. Through the common system, travel demand and traffic density on each route will be assessed, thereby building appropriate operation charts and operation plans...
Increase convenience when buying tickets
From April 2, 2024, the Hanoi City Traffic Management and Operation Center has officially put into operation virtual bus tickets to replace paper tickets. In particular, instead of queuing to buy monthly tickets in the traditional way, if using the online service, passengers can register for bus tickets on their mobile phones.
Next, on September 20, 2024, the offline virtual card form will also be officially applied, passengers can use tickets on their phones even without internet.
Nguyen Van Loi, a student at the University of Transport, said that since switching to using virtual tickets, he no longer needs to go to stations to get monthly tickets like before. This saves a lot of time, while the tickets can be used immediately after purchase.
However, not everyone can use this type of ticket. Ms. Nguyen Thanh Nga (from Hai Duong) who is working as a maid in Hanoi said that she and many other elderly people find it difficult to operate on smartphones. According to Ms. Nga, the use of cards should be easy for passengers like her to access.
According to a survey by PV, many bus passengers said that they should buy tickets quarterly, avoiding January as is currently the case.
Regarding this issue, speaking with Lao Dong newspaper reporter, Ms. Tran Thi Phuong Oanh, Deputy Director of Hanoi City Public Transport Management Center said that people can still buy bus tickets once for many months.
"Previously, people could buy tickets for 3 consecutive months, but recently Hanoi has planned and adjusted ticket prices. At this time, passengers can only buy monthly tickets. It is expected that from next month, buying tickets for multiple months at a time will continue to be implemented," said Ms. Tran Thi Phuong Oanh.
Hanoi has now implemented the issuance of free, unlimited cards for people with meritorious services, people with disabilities, and the elderly (previously, this card was valid for 5 years). For poor households, the card is valid for one year.
