The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) operates almost all buses in its fleet as the daily number of bus passengers has reached 500,000 after the government eased its lockdown measures.
BMTA director-general Surachai Iamwachirasakul said the traffic rose from 300,000-400,000 passengers a day before the lockdown relaxation and the increase prompted the state enterprise to deploy nearly 90% of its 2,000-bus fleet. The pre-COVID-19 traffic amounted to nearly 1 million bus passengers a day.
Although the present traffic was half the pre-COVID volume, the BMTA had to use almost all its buses because social distancing was applied on its buses, he said.
“From 6.30pm to 9pm, the BMTA must use all its bus fleet to allow commuters to reach home before the curfew… There may be problems about inadequate buses on routes if it rains or traffic is heavily congested in the future,” Mr Surachai said.
He asked general people to work from home so that public transit systems would not be overcrowded in order to help contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). (TNA)
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