The way bus fares are set in Hanoi changed on July 17, 2026. Until then you paid a flat fare fixed per route, but from that day 24 of Hanoi's routes and branch lines switched to a distance-based system where the fare rises or falls with how far you ride. The scheme is a 3,000-dong base fare plus 450 dong for every kilometer traveled. For Hanoi residents who use the bus daily and travelers moving around the city by bus, it's a shift to a "ride short, pay less; ride long, pay more" structure. In yen, that's about 18 yen for the base fare and about 3 yen per kilometer (as of July 2026, roughly 1 yen ≈ 162 dong).
What changed, in a word
Hanoi's subsidized buses used to charge a flat fare set by the length of the route. On a long, 40-km-class route, you paid the route's fixed fare even for a few stops, so short-distance riders tended to pay relatively more. The new system, applied to some routes from July 17, replaces this "price per route" with "price per distance." The fare formula is simple:Fare = 3,000 dong base + distance traveled (km) × 450 dong. Ride 5 km and it's 5,250 dong (about 32 yen); ride 10 km and it's 7,500 dong (about 46 yen)—you now pay for exactly how far you go.
To measure this distance accurately, when paying by electronic card or smartphoneTap twice, on boarding and on alightingis the premise. You tap on to reserve a provisional amount when boarding, and the final amount is fixed at the point where you tap off. Paying cash, distance can't be measured, so the fare is calculated from the boarding point to the terminus and rounded up to the nearest 1,000 dong. In effect, cash riders pay the highest fare, and the system is designed to strongly push people toward electronic payment.
Behind it: the digitalization and integration of transport
This distance-based system didn't appear out of nowhere; it's part of Hanoi's larger push to unify transit IC cards. In the city, paper monthly passes ended their run on July 1, and the shift to IC-chip transit cards and virtual cards has begun. Progress on 'transfer linkage' (liên thông)—letting you ride buses and the metro on the same card—continues, and measuring fares accurately by distance required this electronic-tap infrastructure as a foundation. Distance-based pricing marks the stage where that digitization reached the fare system itself.
The bus network itself is modernizing in parallel. The routes newly added to the distance-based system include VinBus's electric routes E01, E03, E04, E06 and E10. Amid Hanoi's big push to electrify its buses (Hanoi's city buses go electric—17 routes and 281 vehicles reshape how residents get around), this fare digitization points in the same direction. Multiple measures - replacing vehicles, changing how you pay, and connecting transfers - are updating the city's public transit all at once.
Old fares vs. new, in numbers
How much the new system helps short-distance riders is easiest to see next to the old flat fare. Hanoi's buses, revised in November 2024, had set a flat fare of 8,000 to 20,000 dong according to route length. For someone riding just a few stops on a long route, that flat rate was quite heavy.
| Distance traveled | New distance-based fare | Yen equivalent (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| 1km | 3,450 dong | about 21 yen |
| 2km | 3,900 dong | About 24 yen |
| 5km | 5,250 dong | About 32 yen |
| 10km | 7,500 dong | About 46 yen |
| Old flat fare (from November 2024, by route length) | Fare | Yen equivalent (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Routes under 15km | 8,000 dong | About 49 yen |
| Routes of 15 to 25 km | 10,000 dong | About 62 yen |
| Routes of 25–30 km | 12,000 dong | about 74 yen |
| Routes of 30-40 km | 15,000 dong | about 93 yen |
| Routes of 40 km or more | 20,000 dong | About 123 yen |
If you ride short stretches frequently, the new system is clearly cheaper. Someone who used to pay 8,000–10,000 dong for a few stops on a long route under the old system now pays around 4,000 dong for an actual distance of 2–3 km. Conversely, riding a route all the way can cost more than the old flat fare, depending on distance. Ride 25 km and it's 14,250 dong; 30 km, 16,500 dong—more than that route's old flat rate (in the 10,000–15,000 dong range). The system is designed to encourage short trips in the city center while asking a fair share from those who ride long distances end to end.
Note which routes are covered
What went to distance-based fares from July 17 is not every route in the city but 24 routes and branch lines. Check before you ride whether the routes in your area are included. The main operators and route numbers are as follows.
- Hanoi Transport Corporation (Transerco)：3B、20A、20B、54、92、95、97、102、105、110、112
- VinBus (electric bus)：E01、E03、E04、E06、E06TC、E10
- Electric bus operator：35B、55、109
- Ha Tay Bus：118、126 ／ Bao Yen：163 ／ Hai Van：64
Starting with these 24 routes, the city says it will gradually expand distance-based fares and electronic payment. Routes still on flat fares now are expected to move to this system going forward.
Practical tips so residents and travelers don't lose out
If you pay by electronic card, the one trick to not slipping up comes down to this.Never forget to tap when you get off-namely this: forget to tap off and the distance isn't fixed, so you're charged the longest distance from boarding to the terminus. Even a short ride can see the fare jump on a single missed tap, so make tapping twice, on and off, a habit.
There's another separate perk worth knowing. Alongside the low-emission zoning, buses departing from and arriving in the Ring Road 1 (Vanh dai 1) area are fare-free from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 (excluding tourist-only buses; 45 routes covered). For short trips around the city center, there are cases where you pay no fare at all. Keep in mind which stretches you pay for by distance and which are free, and you can cut daily transport costs more than you'd think.
Traveling with cash only costs more, too. Cash is calculated by the distance to the final stop, so it's reliably higher than for those with an electronic card. Even a traveler in Hanoi for just a few days will find short bus rides suddenly cheaper with a transit card (a physical card or an app-based virtual one). For late-night trips and short hops to areas just outside the Old Quarter, used often, it adds up. The city's push to get travelers spending money in the evening hours (Hanoi's nights grow longer as the city goes after what travelers spend after dark), the value of having a cheap way to get around is rising.
Ripple effects on the market and industry
Distance-based fares push fare tracking and cashless payment together. With boarding and alighting data captured by distance, the city can read demand route by route and use it to allocate subsidies and decide on added service. Buses used by hundreds of thousands daily also become a place to root cashless payment in Vietnam. Concessions for those 60 and over, under 6, wounded veterans and people with disabilities are shifting too, from paper proof to authentication via virtual cards or national ID. Together with Hanoi's move to restrict gasoline motorbikes downtown, the steering from private travel to public transit is advancing on three fronts at once: fares, vehicles and payment.
Practical info for riding
| Start date | July 17, 2026 (rolling out from 24 routes and branch lines) |
|---|---|
| Fare calculation | 3,000 dong base fare plus 450 dong per kilometer |
| Electronic payments | Calculated by actual boarding-to-alighting distance (two taps, on and off, required) |
| cash | Calculated by the distance from your boarding point to the last stop, rounded up to the nearest 1,000 dong |
| Card registration | Online (vedientuonline.com.vn), the app "Thẻ vé giao thông HN," or in person (1 Kim Ma Street) |
| Eligible for discounts | Those 60 and over, under 6, wounded veterans, people with disabilities, low-income households and others (authenticated by national ID or virtual card) |
| Paper pass | Abolished on July 1, already shifted to electronic cards |
Summary: first get a card, and make tapping off a habit
Hanoi's bus fares have shifted to a distance-based system, making it cheaper for short riders and, depending on distance, heavier for those who ride all the way through. Residents have two things to do now: get a transit card or an app-based virtual card, and always tap on and off when paying electronically. These two make travel cheaper than paying cash and nimbler than the old flat fare. Check once whether the routes you use often are among the 24 covered, and if not, at least make the card ahead of time to be ready for expansion.
