Currently, the bus ticket system in the city includes two main types: Single-trip tickets and pre-sold tickets (also known as annual tickets). With single-trip tickets, passengers can choose prices from 5,000 to 7,000 VND depending on the distance, or 3,000 VND for students. Meanwhile, annual tickets (valid until December 31 of the year of issue) cost from 112,500 VND to 157,500 VND/book of 30 tickets, helping passengers save from 38,000 to 52,000 VND compared to regular single-trip tickets.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center, recently, the center has coordinated with relevant units to pilot automatic payment on 38/90 subsidized bus routes (accounting for 42.2% of the system's subsidized bus routes), using entirely corporate capital (not using the Ho Chi Minh City budget).
Passengers can pay with Unipass card, QR code via Unispass application in Zalopay and bank cards of 24 domestic banks. This contactless system does not require PIN code and also accepts VietQR payment code, providing a more convenient and modern payment experience.
Through a cooperation program with the UK within the framework of the project to build a smart ticket system for public transport, Ho Chi Minh City has built a technical standards framework for an automatic ticket collection system. These standards apply advanced technologies such as EMV, QR code, physical cards and electronic wallets, similar to popular technologies in the world. The new system will support diverse payment methods such as public transport cards, domestic bank cards, international credit cards, QR codes and also create conditions for applying flexible fare policies such as daily tickets, weekly tickets, monthly tickets.
This technical framework also serves as a foundation for integrating other public transport services such as metro, river bus and future public transport routes. Through this, passengers can easily transfer routes without using many separate tickets, helping to increase convenience and save costs for people.
Currently, the habit of using cash for payment is still popular among bus users, causing many difficulties in implementing the interoperable electronic ticket system. To change this habit, the Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center has proposed using 358 billion VND from the city budget to hire automatic ticket collection services on buses for the period 2024-2029. The system is expected to be equipped with hardware and software, serving about 2,000 buses, while the software is capable of operating 5,000 vehicles at the same time, meeting the needs of service development in the future.
In response to the above proposal, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Bui Xuan Cuong directed the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport to urgently coordinate with relevant departments and agencies to conduct a detailed assessment. The city requested a review of the project's suitability with the city's plans, resolutions, and digital transformation programs; forecast the socio-economic impacts of the automatic ticket collection system and ensure synchronization with other public transport such as river buses and metro rail.
