Bus No 27 on the Ben Thanh-An Suong route has advertisements on its sides. An auction for advertising on the sides of the city’s public buses will be organised at the end of this month. — Photo voh.com.vn

HCM City Department of Transport and the Department of Justice’s auction centre has unanimously approved an auction for advertising on the sides of the city’s public buses at the end of this month.

Bidding for advertising on a total of 2,084 fare-subsidised buses, including buses with 40 seats and above and two double-decker buses, will start at VND693 billion (US$30.5 million) for three years.

This is the first time the city has officially opened bidding for advertising on public buses in order to offset bus subsidies that amount to around VND1 trillion ($44 million) this year.

Last year, Japanese firm Koa Sha Media Vietnam won an auction with a bid of VND14.6 billion ($643,000) a year for the city’s pilot project to put ads on the sides of 171 buses, exceeding the bidding’s starting price of VND10.3 billion ($453,000) a year. — VNS