How to get free bus tickets in Hanoi Ring Road 1

From July 1, 2026, Hanoi City officially applies a policy of free subsidized bus tickets for passengers traveling within Ring Road 1 to encourage people to use public transport. The policy is implemented until the end of June 30, 2027 and does not apply to business buses and tourist buses.

However, on the first morning of deployment, many passengers reflected that they still had to buy tickets even though they only traveled in the free area, causing many people to wonder about how to apply the policy.

Talking to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Ho Thai Phuong - Director of the Hanoi City Traffic Management and Operation Center said that the condition to be exempted is that passengers must use electronic ticket cards, because the entire fee calculation and refund process is carried out automatically on the system.

According to Mr. Phuong, for passengers getting on and off the bus within Ring Road 1, the system will automatically waive 100% of the ticket price. In case of getting on the bus from outside the Ring Road 1 area, the system will temporarily collect money along the entire route, then refund the fare corresponding to the distance within the exempted area.

For example, passengers traveling from Mai Dich to Kim Ma will be deducted money for the entire route when boarding the bus, and then the money for the section within Ring Road 1 will be refunded. In the early days of implementation, the refund time may be fast or slow depending on each transaction, but the management unit affirmed that all eligible amounts will be refunded.

For passengers paying in cash, they still have to buy tickets when getting on the bus but only pay for the distance outside Ring Road 1. Information about the distance is free and the distance to be paid is printed directly on the ticket for people to easily follow.

Meanwhile, passengers paying without cash need to touch the card or scan the QR code when getting on and off the bus for the system to accurately determine the distance traveled. If they do not perform the operation when getting off the bus, the system will default to charge to the end point of the route and will not refund the difference.

Functional agencies recommend that people soon switch to using electronic ticket cards and complete operations when getting on and off the bus to fully enjoy benefits according to the free bus ticket policy within Ring Road 1.

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