The Hanoi Department of Transport has planned to deploy a unified electronic ticket system for public bus and metro services in 2024.  

Currently, the electronic ticket is used on the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line and nine electronic bus lines in the city, but the ticket systems for bus and metro services are not technologically compatible.

Passengers are on board the Cat Linh-Ha Dong Metro in Hanoi's District of Ha Dong. Photo: Tuan Anh

This year, the city's transportation department will formulate a standard technical framework and common ticket policy for the public transportation system. The unified ticket system is expected to reduce the amount of time spent buying and checking tickets, and the number of staff required.

In addition, e-tickets will provide operators with data on users' travel demand and routes to create an appropriate operating scheme.

According to the department, the digitalization of public transport has led to practical benefits for consumers.

So far, the digitalization of public transport in Hanoi has been limited to the use of a chip-based bank card that enables contactless payment on Hanoi's Vinbus electric bus system. After boarding the bus, instead of taking out their wallet and paying in cash, passengers simply swipe their cards to make payments. They do not need to enter a PIN code or sign for confirmation. The money is deducted from their accounts and the bus tickets are automatically printed. The process takes only a few seconds.

Currently, passengers can use a chip-embedded card issued by seven commercial banks, namely TPBank, BIDV, Agribank, SHB, Viet Capital Bank, VietBank, and SeABank, to purchase Vinbus tickets.