The number of Bangkok bus routes will be reduced and many will be shortened to serve more as feeders to commuter trains, according to the Land Transport Department.
Theerapong Rodprasert, the department's director-general, said that the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) would operate 95 bus routes instead of 114. Private bus operators that hold concessions from the BMTA operate 95 routes and that number would not change, he added.
He did not give a timeframe for the bus route revamp.
Mr Theerapong said the BMTA was now planning routes for its 489 new natural gas-fuelled buses that are scheduled to be delivered by June.
Pranee Sukrasorn, the acting director of the BMTA, said that 21 companies were interested in joining an electronic auction on March 23 for a contract to supply the new buses to the agency.
She also said that if the state enterprise transferred control of private bus concessionaires to the Land Transport Department, it would be able to manage its own fleet more efficiently.
The BMTA is one of the most heavily indebted state enterprises, with total liabilities of 90.7 billion baht and an accrued operating loss of 94.6 billion.
Finance Minister Sommai Phasee has indicated that the BMTA could be allowed to transfer its debt to the central government accounts, on condition that it come up with a viable plan to improve its efficiency.