All public vans at Bangkok's northern bus terminal will be transferred to a new terminal nearby from Aug 1, Transport Co, Ltd president Jirasak Yaovatsakul said Monday.
The new 30-rai complex is located directly across from the original Mor Chit terminal on Kamphaeng Phet 2 Road and under the Si Rat expressway.
Mr Jirasak said the smaller complex will help lower passenger congestion at the terminal, which also handles provincial buses and acts as a public bus terminal for several routes in the capital.
"The new complex will be able to take in 4,500 vehicles and 30,000 passengers per day, and will also help boost provincial travel services by having van passengers board and depart in different areas," he said.
"All van routes will be transferred gradually over this period to minimise confusion. Come Aug 1, however, all vans must be operating at the new facilities," the transport chief added.
According to Transport Co, the new complex has been open since the beginning of the month and already handles 30% or about 900 of the vans that formerly used the old terminal.
It was previously scheduled to be fully open by the middle of June, and April before that.
Mr Jirasak said there were some initial reports of passengers being confused but that the change was necessary. Ticket kiosks at the new complex have been organised by region, he added.
"A popular way of purchasing van tickets is by getting them from separate vendors for each route, which can be tedious," Mr Jirasak said.
"With this new terminal, van operators can cut their expenses by eliminating extra staff."
The chief said studies were being conducted about transferring the northern Bangkok bus terminal to a new location by 2024.
Meanwhile, Transport Co Ltd has launched two new "Super Bus" routes from the capital to Chiang Mai and Phuket.
The 30-seat premium-grade buses measure 15 metres and have massaging seats. Both routes will use the same buses rolled out on a Bangkok-Sakon Nakhon route in November. Two buses will be used per route each day.
Buses running the Bangkok-Chiang Mai route will leave both terminals at 9pm. Tickets will cost 759 baht each.
Buses operating the Bangkok-Phuket route will leave at 5.30pm and tickets will cost 913 baht each.