Gen Prayut offers traffic woe wisdom

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has come up with the idea of having designated parking areas to prevent overcrowding at busy locations which should help alleviate traffic congestion in Bangkok.

He said the expanding mass transit systems, including the electric train, are still not adequate for tackling traffic problems without the efficient management of parking areas and spaces.

In his weekly address to the nation yesterday, Gen Prayut said he has assigned agencies to look for suitable locations to set up parking areas where people can leave their cars and walk or commute to places including department stores.

Many people park their cars outside individual places of business, which aggravates traffic in the surrounding areas, the premier noted.

“We should have parking areas 300-500 metres away from the buildings,” he said, explaining that this way, people will have the opportunity to do some walking and exercising in the process.

However, he insisted his idea will not be made mandatory.

“But we have to admit that simply deploying more traffic police is not a durable solution and will not solve the congestion problem.

“There are more vehicles than there are roads. We need to seek other solutions,” he said, adding that one such solution would be have more parking areas connected to train stations.

Train fares must also be kept low to encourage more commuters to rely on mass transit and less on cars.

“Everything has to be well planned and well thought through. We also need to find investors who will co-invest with the government, allowing the service to be more convenient and cheaper as well as generate sufficient income,” Gen Prayut said.

In addition to more effectively managing parking spaces, the government set a high priority on improving public safety when it comes to commuting. “Too many lives have been lost in road accidents every year,” he added.

Also earmarked for launch are the extension projects for the Orange, Blue, Green and Purple electric train lines. The prime minister said the extensions will create a web of transport systems linking other provinces.

Gen Prayut said the Transport Ministry will revise the country’s mass transit plan and improve the transportation system, linking together the transport modes such as the public bus system, rail system and electric rail system.

“Everything must be interconnected so that people can commute between different regions,” he said.