BANGKOK, Oct 28 – The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) on Sunday launched a ‘Bikes for Rent’ project in the hopes of helping ease the city’s traffic woes.
Bangkok Deputy Governor Teerachon Manomaipiboon presided over the opening ceremony in downtown Bangkok.
The project is for commuters to use bikes in transit to reach BTS skytrain and MRT underground stations.
Two pilot points of services are near Siam Square BTS station (on the cornor of Henri Dunant Rd) and Sam Yan MRT station (around the corner from Chamchuri Square Building).
Eight bikes are currently provided at each pilot station. The total number of rented bikes will be increased to 100 soon, before 500 bikes will be made available at 50 skytrain and underground stations in inner Bangkok by February next year.
Mr Teerachon said the BMA wanted to promote to the public the use of BTS and MRT to ease the traffic problem. However, as electric train routes do not cover the entirety of Bangkok, the ‘bikes for rent’ project is an alternative means of travel in those areas such as in Silom, Sathorn and Wireless Road areas.
Commuters can choose to rent a bike from one station and return it to any station nearest to their destination.
Payment will be completed through an electronic system with a smart card, of which the value can be topped up via internet or at the stations providing bikes.
Rental fees is free of charge for 15-minute use. After the first 15 minutes of use to one hour, it costs Bt10, Bt20 for 1-3 hours, Bt40 for 3-5 hours, Bt60 for 5-6 hours, Bt80 for 6-8 hours, and Bt100 from 8 hours onwards. A GPS tracking system will be applied if the bike is missing for more than 24 hours.
