On July 1, 2026, city buses running through central Hanoi became entirely free for a full year. The scope is the 45 routes running inside Ring Road 1, and the free period runs until June 30, 2027. On the same day, Vietnam\u2019s first \u201clow-emission zone\u201d trial also began in Hoan Kiem district. For Japanese travelers walking the Old Quarter, this is a story where both \u201cthe ride to get around\u201d and \u201cthe hours you can walk\u201d change at once. Knowing which routes you can use, and when motorbikes and cars can no longer enter, before your trip makes getting around easier.<\/p>\n
Hanoi has rolled out two main measures. One is making buses that run within Ring Road 1 free for a year. The other is the start of a low-emission zone (LEZ) trial in Hoan Kiem district, including the Old Quarter. The free service covers 45 routes within Ring Road 1; of these, 29 have their start and end points inside the zone, and 16 run through it. Even if you can't read the Vietnamese or English notices, you won't be far off assuming that inside Ring Road 1 you can hop on and off without worrying about the fare.<\/p>\n
What to watch out for is that only regular city buses become free. Commercial services such as airport shuttle buses and tourist buses are excluded. In Ho Chi Minh City, too, 134 routes went free from the same July, with the two major cities aligning to start encouraging public-transport use.<\/p>\n
The low-emission zone trial first runs for half a year, from July 1 to December 31, 2026, in Zones 1 and 2 of Hoan Kiem district. What affects travelers is the hours when car and motorbike traffic stops. In Zone 1, which includes Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter, motorbikes and cars \u2014 except official vehicles \u2014 are banned from 19:00 to 24:00 on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. In Zone 2 around the Old Quarter, large vehicles seating 16 or more can no longer pass from 6:00\u20139:00 in the morning and 16:00\u201319:30 in the evening.<\/p>\n
In other words, on weekend nights the area around the lake and the old quarter switches to a pedestrian-centered space. Hanoi has long held a weekend car-free zone on 11 streets in part of the old quarter, and this new zone widens that 'quiet time' further. For those who want to take photos away from the flood of motorbikes, or stroll the night market at leisure, Friday-to-Sunday nights become the sweet spot.<\/p>\n
In Hanoi, a plan was initially considered to shut out gasoline motorbikes inside Ring Road 1 all at once. But the city People's Council sent it back once in May 2026 as \"insufficiently supported by documentation,\" after which it was reworked into a phased, gradual narrowing approach.<\/p>\n
The flow decided at this point is as follows. In the trial phase from July 2026, the use of ride-hailing petrol motorbikes will be curbed, but it won't go so far as a blanket ban on privately owned motorbikes. The zone will expand in 2027, and full-fledged regulation of privately owned petrol motorbikes will begin in stages from January 2028, in the form of not allowing entry to vehicles that don't meet emission standards. For travelers who use rental motorbikes or ride-hailing, for now it's enough to remember just that \"you can't enter some areas on weekend nights.\"<\/p>\n
The city is also putting in place infrastructure to support the shift in transport. Around the zone, 220 parking areas were reviewed and four boarding\/alighting points for large vehicles were designated. Handy for those getting around on foot are the public rental bicycles set up in Hoan Kiem and Cua Nam districts, with 456 bicycles across 44 stations. Coming to the center by free bus and then touring the old quarter by rental bike or on foot is a realistic combination.<\/p>\n