Bus service targets bureaucrats in Nay Pyi Taw
A NEW mini-bus service will make it easier for civil servants and visitors to get around the nation’s capital, says U Aung Kyaw Mying, chair of the Nay Pyi Taw Supervisory Committee for Motor Vehicles.
In Nay Pyi Taw, the city’s wide boulevards and roads make travelling by car a breeze, especially when compared to the trafficjammed cities of Yangon or Mandalay. But for those without their own vehicle, or unable to rent one on a daily basis, travelling anywhere in the sprawling city can be very inconvenient, and expensive.
While there are some private bus services operating, along with taxis and tuk-tuks, civil servants have complained that it is difficult for them and their families to travel around the capital, with a scarcity of bus services connecting to the housing estates where they live. Private company Taw Win currently runs some services to civil service housing, but they operate infrequently as it is considered uneconomical to have frequent lines to the distant housing areas.
As a civil servant who asked to remain anonymous told The Myanmar Times, the shuttles currently in operation connect the housing estates to the government’s offices, but travel anywhere else, including to markets and restaurants, is a logistical challenge.
“There are shuttle buses for us to go to work but it is difficult for our family members to go shopping. It is easier if you have a motorcycle but we live in a high-rise apartment building where it is not easy to keep a bike,” he said.
The new shuttle service announced by the Nay Pyi Taw Supervisory Committee for Motor Vehicles will run every 15 minutes. There will be two routes – one running return from the Myoma Market to civil servant housing and the other running return from the market to government offices. The cost from start to finish on each direction of the route will be K1500.
The Nay Pyi Taw Supervisory Committee for Motor Vehicles will have 12 vehicles servicing the two routes, which together are approximately 15 miles long. The estimated cost of running the service will be K15,000 for each trip.
The committee oversees 277 highway buses based in Nay Pyi Taw.
– Translation by Khine Thazin Han
‘There are shuttle buses for us to go to work but it is difficult for our family members to go shopping.’
Civil servant
Fishing boats line Myeik’s Bo Cho Island with Lampi Island visible in the background.