Smart card for public transport in Ho Chi Minh City
People in Ho Chi Minh City will only need to use one smart card to pay for all public transport methods including bus, metro and river bus.
In July 2023, Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has accepted a number of proposals from the Department of Transport around the project of Building a smart ticket system for public transport in Ho Chi Minh City using a non-refundable ODA loan with a budget of about 5 million USD. Accordingly, the Government of the United Kingdom and Northern Aliens, through the Commonwealth Fund of the United Kingdom, grants USD 5 million in non-refundable aid to build the Regional Technical Assistance Project Building a Smart Ticket System for Transport Ho Chi Minh City public transport. The purpose of the project is to build, manage and operate a smart ticket system, connecting various types of public transport and increasing the number of passengers traveling by these means. The project aims to build, manage and operate a smart ticket system, connecting various types of public transport and increasing the number of passengers traveling by these means.
In order to promote synchronous and comprehensive project results, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City directed the Urban Railway Management Board to review the implementation of the bidding package related to the automatic ticket collection system under the Construction for metro line 2, Ben Thanh - Tham Luong line, at the same time, assess the possibility of interoperability with other systems (bus, metro line 1) with difficulties and problems, and the proposed report shall be sent to the Department of Transport in July 2023.
Ho Chi Minh City is also considering the application of an open ticket technology to follow the trend of other countries. The system is expected to allow different forms of payment such as on the phone, Visa, Zalo pay, then, passengers can use the ticket card of the metro line to use for other means such as buses, river buses.
Early 2023, the City Department of Transport of Ho Chi Minh City renewed the cooperation agreement with Visa after 3 years of success (2020 - 2022) in developing and applying electronic payment in urban traffic. In the first phase of cooperation, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport and Visa have implemented contactless payment on 50 buses. According to the new cooperation memorandum, the two sides are aiming to increase the system to 1,000 buses, which is expected to create a drastic change in public transport in Ho Chi Minh City in particular and in Vietnam. After the ticket card using EMV chip card is completed, Ho Chi Minh City will become the first locality in the country to use smart payment cards for public transport services.
Source: the Internet