HCMC proposes new tourist bus routes

The proposal, submitted to the HCMC People's Committee by the Department of Transport, said the two new routes would run between District 1 and the Chinatown area in Districts 5 and 6 on a trial basis until the end of 2025.

The first route, numbered DL03, will operate from 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., with each trip lasting 90 minutes and covering around 20 km. A round starts from Saigon bus station, through downtown streets of districts 1, 5, and 6, to Cho Lon area and back.

The second route, numbered DL04, will operate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with each trip lasting about 80 minutes and covering around 14 km. The bus also starts from Saigon bus station, but the route would go from District 1 through streets in districts 3, 5, and 6, to the Chinatown and then back.

Attractions along these routes include Ben Thanh Market, Nguyen Hue walking street, City Hall, Independence Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, Ba Son Bridge, An Duong Vuong Monument and Chinatown.

The two new routes are expected to contribute to the development of the city's night economy and tourism, the transport department said.

HCMC has been trialling two open-top tourist bus routes, one route since 2019 and the other from 2022, with ticket prices ranging $4-20 per person. Up to the end of the first quarter of this year, these two routes had served about 317,000 tourists.