Ho Chi Minh City will not ban petrol-powered vehicles, instead relying on free bus services, expanded public transport and incentives to encourage the shift to electric vehicles, city Party chief Tran Luu Quang told voters recently.

At a meeting in Quang's National Assembly constituency, voter Phan Thi Ngoc Huong said congestion was spreading from the city's gateways and arterial roads to other areas. She urged the city to assess the transition from petrol-powered to electric vehicles, saying it would affect people's lives, particularly workers and low-income earners.

"We will not ban people from using petrol vehicles," Quang said. The city will instead study economic and financial policies to encourage the transition, potentially with different regulations for different areas. Smart cameras could identify vehicles so that electric vehicle users receive incentives and priority, while petrol-powered vehicles would be subject to separate policies, he said.

The transition costs could be shared among the state, residents and businesses, allowing the shift to take place gradually. Quang cited China, where some areas give electric vehicles priority, allowing them to travel more quickly, while people can park petrol-powered vehicles outside restricted zones and continue their journeys using electric vehicles.

Quang said congestion was more difficult to address in HCMC than elsewhere because of its large population. Concentrated working hours and daily routines result in a large number of vehicles taking to the roads simultaneously in the morning and afternoon. He said a combination of public transport, regulation of private vehicles, technology and changes in traffic culture would be required.

"The first solution is public transport in place of private vehicles," he said, noting that the city had allocated more than VND 2 trillion (US$ 77 million) to make bus journeys free for a year.

The fare waiver took effect on July 1 across 134 intra-city routes and is scheduled to run until December 31, at an estimated cost of VND 630 billion. The routes carried more than 26.8 million passengers between July 1 and September 22, a 48% increase year on year, according to the city's Public Transport Management Center.

The city will deploy larger buses during peak hours and smaller buses when demand is lower, using technology to match capacity with demand. Bus routes will also be reorganised to connect passengers with the expanding metro network, while bus stops and passenger facilities will be upgraded.

Drivers who move into available gaps on the road regardless of traffic rules disrupt traffic flow and contribute to congestion, Quang said.

"Traffic congestion is one of the four tasks the Party General Secretary assigned to HCMC at the city Party Congress," he said.

The city aims for public transport to meet 15-20% of travel demand by 2030. HCMC is also studying restrictions on private vehicles based on location and time slots. A draft plan by the city's Department of Construction proposes piloting a low-emission zone from July 2027 in the central core and Thu Thiem, before expanding it to Ring Road 2 from early 2029.

Private two-wheelers would be required to be electric or powered by other green-energy sources to enter the zone by 2035.