These new buses are part of 37 bus routes in Ho Chi Minh City that were recently tendered by the city's Public Transport Management Center to select new operators.

Phuong Trang Futabuslines won the majority of the bids, securing 35 routes, including routes 23, 30, 55, 104, 31, 36, and 88. These 35 bus routes have a total of 557 buses. Of these, 256 are electric buses operated by Futabuslines, with the remaining buses running on diesel.

The remaining two bus routes, numbers 150 and 33, were awarded to Vinbus Ecological Transport Services Company Limited. All 43 buses on these two routes will use CNG fuel.

Electric bus connecting Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien metro, 12/2024. Photo: Giang Anh

The two new operators already run several electric bus routes in the city. Phuong Trang Futabuslines has operated 17 electric bus routes connecting to the Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien metro line since the project became operational in late 2024. Vinbus also operates the electric bus route D4 (Vinhomes Grand Park - Saigon Bus Station).

Previously, Ho Chi Minh City's bus network had over 2,200 buses, with nearly 700 electric and CNG buses, and the rest running on gasoline and diesel. With the addition of nearly 300 new buses, the city's clean-fuel bus system will account for almost 50% of the entire network.

As per the city's requirements, new bus routes opening from 2025 onward must use clean fuels, before the entire network transitions to electric and green energy buses by 2030. Because the 37 newly tendered routes are existing ones, they are not yet required to use clean fuel vehicles.

Giang Anh