The digitalization of public transport ticketing has brought benefits and convenience to many people living and working in the capital city by reducing administration, management and ticketing costs.

Since the beginning of April, the Hanoi Public Transport Management Centre has been issuing "virtual" tickets that are integrated with many services for public transport passengers. 

Nguyen Tue Chi, a student in Cau Giay District, told The Hanoi Times: "With the virtual ticket, I don't have to queue up to get a monthly physical pass, which saves me a lot of time."

Phone application for virtual bus tickets in Hanoi. Photo: Anh Kiet/The Hanoi Times

"I applied for a virtual ticket and received it three days later. I found the non-physical ticket very convenient. It is on your phone and all you have to do is scan it when you board. I no longer have to worry about losing my ticket or forgetting to take it with me," said Tran Thanh Quang, a resident in Nam Tu Liem District.

Instead of standing in line to buy a monthly pass for her fourteen-year-old son to go to school, Nguyen Le Trang downloaded the app on her child's mobile phone. "Thanks to the virtual bus ticket, I can easily renew the monthly pass and track my son's travel history anytime, anywhere," Trang told The Hanoi Times.

After registering, the virtual electronic card will fully display images, personal information, card code, and expiration date on the application. Passengers only need to carry a mobile with the application installed.

"The virtual ticket is not only convenient and quick for users, but also contributes to environmental protection, limiting the amount of waste from physical ticket cards issued, reducing State budget costs and improving the quality and efficiency of serving people," Trang stressed.

Thai Ho Phuong, Director of the Hanoi Public Transport Management Center, said that the introduction of virtual tickets is in line with the city's digital transformation policy to build an intelligent transport system.

Phuong stressed that virtual ticketing has many advantages. A virtual ticket is issued to the customer's identification account, which can be managed on a mobile phone. It stores the necessary information like a physical smart card (card code, cardholder information, card expiry date), helping to reduce fraud and revenue loss for the public transport operator.

A girl is using a virtual ticket to ride a Hanoi bus. Photo: Hung Khai/The Hanoi Times

"In addition, virtual ticketing helps save the cost of issuing physical tickets and the time customers spend traveling to ticket counters. The virtual ticket can be used immediately after successful registration, instead of waiting 3-4 days to get a physical ticket," Phuong told The Hanoi Times.

"Over the past two weeks, the Hanoi bus system has issued 16,000 electronic ticket cards. At the same time, only 1,200 physical ticket cards were issued. It is expected that in the coming time, the number of electronic ticket card issuance will grow even faster. This shows that electronic ticket cards are gradually taking over the traditional paper ticket cards on bus routes as convenience has conquered passengers," he added.

The virtual ticket could be monthly passes and free bus tickets throughout Hanoi’s public bus network. "Our goal is to gradually obtain digital data for complete, accurate, and timely management," said Phuong.

Dao Viet Long, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Transport, said the virtual ticket is a leap forward in providing convenient services for passengers.

"People can easily manage their travel expenses and track their travel history. It's all done through an application that is updated in a smart and convenient way. This is one of the digital transformation steps to improve the quality of public transport services in the capital and is a prerequisite for interoperability of travel passes among all types of public transport," Long told The Hanoi Times.

He stressed that the virtual cards will help to increase the number of public transport users in the future, contributing to the city's project to improve public transport and reduce the number of private vehicles in the city.