On July 6, the Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center said that by July 2026, Ho Chi Minh City had put into operation 88 electric bus routes, marking an important step forward in the roadmap to convert public transport to a green, modern and environmentally friendly direction.
Along with 21 bus routes using compressed natural gas (CNG), currently the city has 109/179 clean energy bus routes, accounting for more than 60% of the total number of operating routes.
Regarding vehicles, the entire Ho Chi Minh City bus network currently has 2,453 vehicles, of which 1,404 are electric buses, accounting for more than half of the total number of vehicles.
The Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center believes that this result comes from the process of promoting the replacement of old buses with electric vehicles in the past time, contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving service quality and bringing a convenient and civilized travel experience to people.
According to the roadmap for converting public transport, by the end of 2026, Ho Chi Minh City strives for 100% of inter-provincial buses to use electricity or environmentally friendly energy sources.
In the period 2027 - 2028, the city will continue to convert CNG-using vehicles to electric buses.
By January 1, 2029, the target is that 100% of inter-provincial and inter-provincial buses operating in Ho Chi Minh City will use electricity.
In parallel with vehicle conversion, the Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center will continue to review and adjust the bus network according to actual needs.
The city is also studying opening more routes connecting the Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau (old) areas, strengthening connectivity with Long Thanh airport, and developing a number of night bus routes to better serve people's travel needs.
In addition, the transport sector is researching and deploying a demand-driven transport model to strengthen connectivity between residential areas with the metro system, buses, river buses, public bicycles and other types of public passenger transport, aiming to build a synchronous, convenient and efficient transportation network.
From July 1 to the end of 2026, Ho Chi Minh City will implement free tickets for 134 inter-provincial bus routes, including 109 subsidized routes and 25 non-subsidized routes.
This policy has initially brought positive results. In just 5 days of implementation, the city's bus system has served more than 1.32 million passengers, an increase of about 30% compared to the same period in 2025.
