Bangkok vans: Relocation to bus terminals bound to fail

If govt goes ahead with van ban, vans & commuters will surely come up with much better & safer transportation solution.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT & CONSUMER SOVEREIGNTY

Bangkok vans: Relocation to bus terminals bound to fail

10/08/2016
Sirinya Wattanasukchai

Like several measures to regulate public transport in the city, the latest move by the Land Transport Department to relocate Bangkok's inter-city van service from Victory Monument will likely fail again.

Under the new measure, the department will relocate all inter-city vans to city bus terminals, namely Ekamai, Mo Chit on Kamphaeng Phet Road, and the southern bus terminal on Boromratchchonnanee Road.

The measure will take effect on Oct 25 -- the start of the school holidays, and low season for the service.

FIRST ATTEMPT AT RELOCATION FAILED

This is the second attempt that state authorities have made to regulate the van service, which they blame for inner-city traffic congestion.

The first attempt was moving the service to the Makkasan area, under the Makkasan Station of the Airport Link.

ASK THE PUBLIC: WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE VICTORY MONUMENT?

I admire the DLT for taking the initiative to regulate the service, but it's not a well-thought out plan.

It's true that these vans cause traffic problems, and we need to do something about it.

But before we take any action, we need to understand why the van service, despite a poor safety record, is so popular among commuters.

The key to its success is location -- a centre that is connected with BTS rail system.

There are numerous public buses from all sides of the city.

PROBLEMS WITH MOVING VANS TO BUS STATIONS

The proposed new locations for van services, the Southern Bus terminal, Mo Chit terminal and Ekamai all have problems.

Ekamai, while being on the BTS line, which should make travel to and from the area more convenient, is already a crowded place and may not accommodate vans.

In fact, it's fair to say that the location of the three terminals make them uncompetitive for the van-service to operate.

And as a further inconvenience, it has been reported that the Ekamai bus terminal is likely to be relocated to Bang Na in the next few years.

The Mo Chit bus terminal will also be moved further out of the city to Rangsit, to an even more inconvenient place in the next two years.

COMMUTERS MAY JUST GIVE UP & BUY A CAR, DEFEATING PURPPOSE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT 

Imagine an office worker wanting to get out of town.

They can simply take the BTS train to Victory Monument and catch an inter-city van to their destination.

It could take one to two hours for commuters to reach one the bus terminals.

That will cause more upset to commuters who already have limited choices of transport.

And such limited options may push people to buy a car, which will only add to Bangkok's clogged roads.

WHY MAKKASAN RELOCATION FAILED?

But back to Makkasan, I think the spot is perfect as a permanent terminal for a van service, given its ample space and connection to the rail system.

It's only because the plan that was to be rolled out at Makkasan was impractical that it was scrapped.

Van drivers defied the plans to relocate the terminal because they were required to park at Makkasan station and go to Victory Monument to pick up passengers, a plan that just did not work and was quickly rejected.

PLANNERS SEEM TO BE PEOPLE WHO NEVER RELIED ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Needless to say, those who mapped out the plan (and also the new relocation) must be people who have never had to rely on public transport.

As state authorities rack their brains over how to improve the service, I am sure some entrepreneurial types will swoop in and find an alternative for commuters to travel.

MOTORCYCLE TAXIS: A PRACTICAL TRANSPORTATION SOLUTION 

Motorcycle taxis, which were actually once illegal, started as a practical way to satisfy the everyday transportation needs of people.

Look at how the motorcycle taxi service first started in Bangkok two decades ago before spreading around the country.

At the time the state was not providing any public transport.

UBER & GRAB STARTED WITH CONSUMERS ANGRY WITH TAXIS

Similarly, look at how app-based taxi services, such as Uber and Grab, started, and have now become hugely popular as consumers are fed up with being rejected by taxi drivers.

And again the state failed to fix the problem.

If authorities are to go ahead with the van ban, don't be surprised if some operators come up with a much better and safer inter-city pooling scheme that rivals the state's one.

It's time the authorities right the wrong and start learning from their old mistakes.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1057645/relocating-van-service-bound-to-fail

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