HCMC – The HCMC transport authority has announced the suspension of the 12-seat electric bus line D1 due to low ridership after five years of operations.
The bus line D1 shuttled passengers between the September 23 Park and the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens in HCMC’s District 1. This bus line mainly served tourists visiting cultural and historical relics in the city center.
It is also one of the first three electric bus lines launched in the city and put into service in 2017, with a fare of VND12,000 per trip, reported the local media.
A representative of Mai Linh Group, the operator of the bus line, said that the bus line D1 saw nearly 70 trips at the start, attracting a large number of passengers. However, the ridership dropped sharply two years later, when the city was impacted by the pandemic.
According to the HCMC Public Transport Management Center, under the HCMC Department of Transport, two other 12-seat electric bus lines, namely D2 and D3, remain operational in the Phu My Hung area in District 7.
More than 2,000 buses currently operate on 127 routes in the city.
In March this year, the city inaugurated an electric bus route using large-size buses to shuttle passengers between Vinhomes Grand Park, a residential area in Thu Duc City, and the Saigon Bus Station in District 1 on a trial basis. Four other routes are in the offing.
