Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has just issued a document approving the policy of implementing the "Gratitude ATM ticket" program to support passengers in difficult circumstances using Metro Line No. 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien) with socialized funding.
Accordingly, the City People's Committee agreed on the policy of implementing a program to support funding for passengers traveling on urban railway line No. 1 as proposed by Ho Chi Minh City Radio and Television Station (HTV) and Urban Railway Company No. 1 One Member Limited Liability Company (HURC1).
Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee assigned HURC1 to receive opinions from the Department of Construction to complete the implementation plan; and at the same time preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies to organize implementation in accordance with legal regulations. HURC1 also coordinated with HTV to complete legal procedures before putting the program into operation.
According to the proposal, the "Gratitude ATM ticket" program gives tickets to workers, students and pupils in difficult circumstances.
The program is expected to be piloted for 2 months at Ben Thanh and Suoi Tien stations before considering expanding it throughout the route.
Passengers eligible for support will receive free tickets through automatic ticket kiosks - called "ATM tickets of gratitude" - installed at stations. Users use citizen ID cards to scan, choose routes and receive tickets.
The system will record identification data and ticket usage information for comparison. Each person is only allowed to receive one ticket/time and within 30 minutes is only allowed to receive a maximum of one ticket. The number of supported tickets is expected to be from 500 - 1,000 tickets/day.
The entire cost of implementing the program is mobilized from socialized sources through contributions from organizations, businesses and individuals, without using the state budget.
Metro Line 1 officially went into commercial operation from December 22, 2024. To date, the line has served nearly 30 million passengers, gradually meeting the travel needs of people and contributing to forming the habit of using modern public transport in Ho Chi Minh City.
Ho Chi Minh City is applying a free Metro No. 1 ticket policy for priority groups such as people with meritorious services to the revolution, people with disabilities, elderly people over 60 years old and children under 6 years old.
For students, the city supports a 50% discount on monthly tickets, to 150,000 VND/person/month. Previously, many programs to give free tickets to workers and students in difficult circumstances have also been implemented, contributing to expanding access to public transport for vulnerable groups.
According to statistics, on average, about 50,054 passengers per month belong to the group of free tickets using Metro Line 1, accounting for about 3% of the total number of passengers on the entire route. Meanwhile, the number of students using monthly preferential tickets reached about 186,000, equivalent to about 11% of the total passenger volume.
Especially on holidays and Tet, free ticket programs have attracted from 90,000 - 150,000 visitors/day, thereby contributing to encouraging people to use electric trains, raising awareness about public transport and reducing pressure on urban transport infrastructure.
The deployment of "ATM tickets of gratitude" is expected to continue to spread social security policies, while promoting people to access and use more modern public passenger transport systems of Ho Chi Minh City.
