25 more electric bus routes from March 1st
On February 23, the Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center announced that from March 1, VinBus Ecological Transport Service Co., Ltd. will put into operation electric bus route No. 127 (An Thoi Dong - Nga ba Ba Xan). This is the first electric bus route deployed in Can Gio.
Over the past time, the Center has coordinated with VinBus to review vehicles, technical inspections, complete route identification, train drivers and service staff, ensuring full operating conditions.
Putting route 127 into operation not only increases the capacity to serve the travel needs of people in An Thoi Dong area and neighboring areas, but also contributes to modernizing the city's bus network in a safe - convenient - environmentally friendly direction.
In addition to route 127, from March 1, VinBus also put into operation 8 other electric bus routes including: 32, 38, 45, 53, 64, 93, 140 and 148. All 9 routes were won by VinBus in bidding in October 2025.
At the same time, Phuong Trang Passenger Car Joint Stock Company (Futabuslines) also put into operation 16 other electric bus routes, including routes: 01, 04, 08, 15, 22, 27, 43, 62, 65, 70, 74, 81, 110, 139, 152 and 170. Among them, route 170 is a new route, serving the inner campus of Ho Chi Minh City National University, with a journey from bus station area A to bus station area B.
To date, Phuong Trang is the leading enterprise in the roadmap to switch to electric buses in Ho Chi Minh City. Among the more than 600 electric buses operating in the area, most belong to this enterprise after winning bids.
In 2024, the enterprise won the bid for 17 routes connecting to Metro Line 1 stations in Ho Chi Minh City with 150 electric buses. By the bidding invitation at the end of March 2025, the unit continued to win 35 routes and put into operation 557 buses, including 443 electric buses.
According to the Department of Construction, after merging with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City currently has 179 bus routes, including 108 subsidized routes and 71 non-subsidized routes, with a total of 2,319 vehicles operating. Notably, the city has 47 electric bus routes with 627 vehicles and 18 routes using CNG gas fuel with 449 vehicles. Thus, the proportion of vehicles using environmentally friendly fuel accounts for 46.4% of the total number of buses in the city.
The addition of hundreds of electric buses from March 1st will continue to increase the proportion of green vehicles in the public passenger transport system.
100% of buses use green energy by 2030
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction said that in 2026, the city will complete the bidding procedures for the remaining 7 bus routes, and at the same time organize bidding for 37 routes with existing contracts expiring on December 31, 2026.
To meet the travel demand after the merger, by 2030, the Ho Chi Minh City bus network is expected to increase to 297 routes with more than 3,600 vehicles, all operating by electricity. Nearly 1,500 vehicles will be newly invested, and all diesel vehicles will be replaced, including CNG vehicles because they no longer meet the clean energy criteria.
Regarding infrastructure, Ho Chi Minh City currently has 5 electric bus charging stations with 56 charging pillars, serving 627 operating vehicles. In the near future, the city will socialize investment in charging stations at 19 bus stations in the Ho Chi Minh City area (old) and 15 stations in Binh Duong, Ba Ria - Vung Tau (old). Some state-owned enterprises also plan to invest in 10 more charging stations in the period 2025 - 2027.
When completed, the entire system is expected to have 393 fast charging pillars, meeting the charging needs of more than 5,500 vehicles per day.
To attract businesses to participate in the conversion, Ho Chi Minh City plans to support borrowing a maximum of 85% of vehicle investment capital (no more than 300 billion VND per project), interest rate of 3% for 7 years. For charging station infrastructure, investors are supported 70% for construction and 85% for technology and equipment (no more than 200 billion VND per project).
