HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội is continuing to replace conventional vehicles with modern, environmentally friendly alternatives to improve service quality and reduce urban air pollution.

Thái Hồ Phương, Director of the Hà Nội Public Transport Management and Operation Centre, said the expansion of electric bus services is a key measure to promote a sustainable public passenger transport system.

Under the plan, Route No. 74 will begin operating with an additional 33 electric buses from April 3. Before April 30, 2026, the city will deploy a further 170 electric buses across eleven routes, bringing the total to 39 electric bus routes with 683 vehicles. This will account for roughly 35 per cent of the city’s total bus fleet.

By the end of April 2026, Hà Nội is expected to have 822 buses powered by electricity and other green energy sources, including 683 electric buses and 139 buses running on compressed natural gas (CNG). Together, they will represent 42.1 per cent of the city’s total bus fleet.

Officials from the Department of Construction said the transition to green-energy buses reflects the city’s determination to build a sustainable public transport system while advancing its goal of developing a greener, more modern and civilised urban environment.

Statistics from the city’s Public Transport Management and Operation Centre show that bus services carried 68.3 million passengers in the first two months of 2026, equivalent to 99 per cent of the figure recorded during the same period in 2025.

Under the city’s programme for developing public transport using electric and green-energy buses, Hà Nội aims to complete the transition of its entire bus fleet to electric or green energy by 2030. Between now and then, the city plans to invest in more than 2,500 vehicles.

To support the transition, the municipal People’s Council has approved a policy to assist enterprises investing in green buses. Under the policy, the city budget will subsidise 70 per cent of bank loan interest or loans from the city’s development investment fund, with support capped at 100 per cent of the loan contract value over the loan period, up to a maximum of ten years.

The policy applies to businesses investing in electric and green-energy buses as well as related infrastructure such as substations, charging stations and gas refuelling facilities for each project.

The expansion of green-energy buses is expected to improve the quality of public transport services and reinforce the capital’s long-term strategy for sustainable urban development. VNS