Automatic bus fare payment ineffective

Nguyen Minh Son, who lives in Nha Be District and often commutes to work in District 1 by bus, stated that it was easy and convenient to use the cards as commuters do not need to wait for the bus staff to give them tickets and change. However, he found it inconvenient to top up his account as only one bank offered the service.

In addition, a card can be used on a bus route only. If commuters want to take other routes, they have to pay those fares in cash, Son noted, stressing that the city should quickly handle these shortcomings.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Khanh Minh, a student of Ton Duc Thang University, remarked that students in the city have to pay only VND2,000 per service, but they are subject to a fee of VND5,000 if they use the cards.

Nguyen Van Leo, chairman of HCMC Transport JSC, the provider of the automatic bus fare payment service, admitted the shortcomings of the service and promised that the company would ask the HCMC Public Passenger Transport Management and Operation Center to present solutions.

Tran Chi Trung, director of the HCMC Public Passenger Transport Management and Operation Center, stated that the automatic bus fare payment service was aimed at helping local commuters. They can use the cards to pay for other public transport services in the future as well, such as river boats, taxis, urban railways and bus rapid transit.

It also helps local management agencies collect data on the number of daily commuters and the revenue from bus fares, promote noncash payments and save money from printing bus tickets, Trung added.

The center will coordinate with the relevant agencies and partners to remove the shortcomings and will ask the city’s government to approve the service’s application across the city.