NGV buses set to hit city’s streets
Almost 500 new buses are set to hit Bangkok’s streets in time for the New Year, Deputy Transport Minister Ormsin Chivapruck said yesterday.
He said the deal to buy 489 natural gas vehicle (NGV) buses was signed yesterday with the manufacturer and the vehicles will be delivered within 90 days.
The air-conditioned buses will offer Wi-Fi for commuters and are equipped with CCTV cameras to monitor driver behaviour. They will also be served by smart bus stops announcing the estimated arrival times, the deputy minister said.
He said the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) will continue to improve its transport standards as the problems holding the BMTA back from acquiring a new fleet of buses for many years have been resolved. The deal signed yesterday with Bestlin Group marked significant progress in the BMTA’s operations.
The signing ceremony, presided over by Mr Ormsin yesterday, followed clearance of the company’s alleged irregularities in its accounts claimed by its competitor. It also came after the BMTA’s decision to cancel the first bidding with a 1.7-billion baht budget last November after the agency discovered the terms of reference violated the Administration Procedure Act.
The 489 buses — with low floors to facilitate the disabled in wheelchairs, as well as modernised bus stops, four of which are located at Victory Monument and two at Mor Chit BTS station — are part of fleet improvements which should help the BMTA deal with its debts.
The cabinet approved its plan to buy 3,138 NGV buses in 2005, which include the 489 buses which will begin service in December. However, the BMTA is changing its plans as it will not buy the remaining 2,649 buses.
The BMTA will on Monday ask the National Economic and Social Development Board to give the green light to its new plan. Instead of sticking to the purchase of the remaining NGV buses, which will impose high costs in the long run, the BMTA will purchase 200 electric vehicles (EV) and repair 500 ordinary and 200 air-conditioned buses which are currently in use, Mr Odsdrmsin said.
If the cabinet agrees with the new plan, the BMTA expects to issue a bid for the first 200 EVs, worth 3.3 billion baht, this year with the EVs expected to enter commercial operations in April of next year, he added.