On the morning of December 11, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council passed a resolution on public transport support policies for Metro Line 1 and connecting bus routes.
Metro Line 1 will offer free tickets to all passengers during the first 30 days of operation. The total cost of this free program is estimated at about 15.7 billion VND.
Along with that, the city will spend an additional 17.3 billion VND to support the free operation of 17 bus routes connecting to Metro Line 1 during the same period.
This is to encourage people to use a combination of metro and bus to travel.
In addition to the initial free ticket period, Metro Line 1 will apply a completely free ticket policy for priority groups, including people with revolutionary contributions, people with disabilities, the elderly (over 60 years old), and children under 6 years old traveling with adults. It is expected that the cost of ticket support for these policy groups will be around VND10.7 billion per year.
Ho Chi Minh City also approved a policy of financial support for businesses, cooperatives and public passenger transport units, to offset the difference between ticket sales revenue and operating costs.
It is estimated that the city's annual subsidy for public buses will exceed VND1,840 billion, while the subsidy for metro operations is about VND383 billion.
Metro Line 1 is expected to be commercially operational from December 22, 2024, with ticket prices ranging from VND 6,000 to VND 20,000 per trip, depending on the distance traveled.
In addition, monthly tickets for regular customers cost 300,000 VND, while students get a discount of 150,000 VND.
Passengers can also choose unlimited one-day or three-day tickets, priced at VND40,000 and VND90,000, respectively.
