Ho Chi Minh City residents get free bus and metro during the New Year

On December 28, Phuong Trang Passenger Transport Joint Stock Company said that all passengers using bus routes taken by this business in Ho Chi Minh City will be completely exempted from ticket prices on New Year's Day, January 1, 2026.

Not only at the beginning of the new year, Phuong Trang also launched a bus ticket exemption for the Lunar New Year, from February 16 to February 18, 2026 (ie from December 29 to the end of the second day of the Lunar New Year).

Currently, Phuong Trang is exploiting 69 subsidized bus routes and 9 non-subsidized bus routes in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center, not only Phuong Trang's bus routes, but all other bus routes with subsidies operated by other businesses in Ho Chi Minh City will also be exempted from tickets on January 1, 2026, contributing to serving the increased travel needs of people during the holiday.

After the merger, Ho Chi Minh City currently has 179 bus routes, including 108 routes with subsidies and 71 routes without subsidies, with the participation of 42 transport units. The total number of vehicles operating on the bus routes is 2,319 vehicles.

Urban Railway Company No. 1 (HURC 1) also announced free tickets for all passengers using Metro Line No. 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien) on January 1, 2026.

To get a free train, passengers can choose one of the following three options:

Method 1: Use a chip-embedded ID card or Citizen ID card, scan directly at the ticket gate.

Method 2: Use QR codes on the HCMC Metro HURC application. Passengers download the application, select the "Sure Up" function to create tickets and scan at the ticket gate.

Method 3: Receive free paper tickets with QR codes at automatic ticket kiosks and scan at ticket gates to board the train.

HURC 1 noted that during the free program, passengers only use the above forms. In case of still purchasing tickets in the usual form, the system will charge a fee and will not refund the payment.

The QR Rising function will officially be displayed on the HCMC Metro HURC application from January 1, 2026 and will only be valid for the day.

In addition to exempting tickets, Metro No. 1 also increases the time and number of trips to serve people to have fun and watch fireworks. Specifically, on December 31, the route ran 264 trips, an increase of more than 20 trips compared to normal days, operating from 5am to 11pm.

On January 1, the number of trips increased to 276, including 20 trips running from 0:30 to 2:00, serving the travel needs of people at the moment of welcoming the New Year.

Read the original here