The Land Transport Department will propose to the Transport Ministry a reform plan for the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority under which the department will have greater say in overseeing the operations of the city bus agency.
Mr Chirut Visarnchit, deputy director-general of Land Transport Department, said on Monday that, under the reform plan, the bus routes would be overhauled after it was discovered that there was duplication of services on about half of the bus routes in Bangkok and peripherals.
For instance, he said that some bus routes are as long as 60 kilometres and it will normally take 3-4 hours of each bus to complete the single route. He added that the reform plan was expected to be completed within September after which the plan will be submitted to the Transport Ministry.
He went on saying that the department would propose the ministry to revoke a cabinet resolution back in 1983 authorising BMTA as the sole operator of bus service in Bangkok and peripherals so that the department will have greater say in overseeing the performance of the bus agency.
Bus companies which are affiliated with BMTA will, from now on, apply for operating licenses directly with the Land Transport Department starting in July.
