On June 22, the Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center said that previously the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee had proposed free tickets for 135 inter-provincial bus routes, including 109 subsidized routes and 26 non-subsidized routes, in the period from July 1 to the end of 2026.
In the initial proposal list, there is bus route No. 172 connecting Saigon Bus Station with Vung Tau Bus Station.
However, when approving the policy, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council only approved free tickets for 134 bus routes, including 109 subsidized routes and 25 non-subsidized routes.
In which, bus route No. 172 has been removed from the list of free tickets. The reason is that this bus route has a route length of about 97 km, part of the route passes through Dong Nai province, outside the policy scope.
Bus route No. 172 has a travel time of 150 - 180 minutes per trip, with a frequency of 10 - 80 minutes depending on the time frame. The current ticket price ranges from 30,000 - 110,000 VND/trip depending on the distance traveled by passengers. Since the beginning of June 2026, this route has been switched to operating by 40-seat electric buses.
In addition to route 172, there are currently 22 other inter-provincial bus routes that have not been applied the free ticket policy due to the management scope of many localities.
In addition, 5 tourist bus routes using open-top two-story cars and 18 bus routes connecting urban centers and tourist centers with airports are also not free due to their specific service nature.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the exemption of bus tickets aims to reduce travel costs for people, encourage the use of public transport, thereby contributing to reducing traffic congestion and environmental pollution.
After merging Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City's bus network currently has 180 inter-provincial and inter-provincial routes, with more than 2,400 vehicles operating.
The free bus ticket policy is implemented in two phases. Specifically, from July 1 to the end of September 2026, passengers traveling on 134 bus routes are completely free without needing to scan cards or perform identification.
From October to the end of 2026, passengers will still be exempt from tickets but must verify information through bank cards, e-wallets, VNeID accounts, MultiGo applications or other electronic methods integrated with the city's electronic ticket system.
List of 134 free bus routes, including:
