Free Rides on Bangkok's New Bus Rapid Transit System

All summer long the newly installed BRT in Bangkok will offer free rides to passengers as the kinks are worked out of the system.

1 minute read

July 1, 2010, 9:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur

Victoria Broadus of TheCityFix writes about the recently opened bus system that has high hopes of transforming the way people get around the Thai capital city.

"Bangkok's BRT opened at the beginning of June, and is running on a free-trial basis until August 31 to try to encourage bus-riding to ease the city's grinding gridlock.

The new BRT in Thailand's capital – a city of nearly 10 million people – has 12 stops covering about 15 kilometers, with an average distance of about 1 kilometer from station to station. The first trunk route runs from the chichi (and smoggy) Sathorn Road to Ratchaphruek Road. So it doesn't get great marks (yet) for improving connectivity and accessibility for the city's poorest neighborhoods; still, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) says four new routes will be added by 2012."

Thanks to Garrett Bradford

FULL STORY: BRT for Free in Bangkok

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 in TheCityFix

Transportation Asia-Pacific Transportation Bus Rapid Transit BRT Congestion Public Transit Bangkok Thailand View More

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