Whenever I hear the famous phrase "never lower your guard" that is repeated every day at the daily Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) press conferences, I have to wonder: Whose guard are they talking about?
This week, Bangkok began the third phase of reopening, and vigilance is of the utmost important. But if we take one look at Bangkok's transport sector,we really need to ask ourselves if anyone is keeping their guard up at all when it comes to physical distancing.
Indeed, the bus schedule has been revised to reflect the amended curfew, from 11pm to 3am, but the number of public buses is woefully inadequate -- 2,855 buses (95% of the total fleet) serve 600,000 or so commuters.
The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) originally assured us that the available buses should be enough, given that fewer people would be travelling as a result of the work from home policy. That may be true under one condition: Commuters don't abide by the physical distancing guidelines, which see bus capacity cut by half.
A friend of mine takes a short bus ride from his house in the Phetkasem area on the city's outskirts in the morning to catch a shuttle provided by his company to his office in Rangsit. His house is near the bus terminal, so there is always a place on the bus for him. But for those who live somewhere further along the route, things are difficult. Since the outbreak, the BMTA cut back bus capacity by more than half to 30 passengers (20 out of 30 seats, and 10 for standing passengers, who should stay one metre apart) out of their 70-person capacity.
A large number of passengers who live aways from the station are left out in the cold, watching the buses, already "full", passing them by. They have little choice but to take a bus operated by a private concessionaire, which is more expensive. Drivers of these buses care little about curbing capacity to enforce social distancing as they, along with the bus conductors, get a cut of the ticket sales.
It's same old problem I raised a few weeks ago that the government was trying to ease the lockdown without having a plan to efficiently mobilise crowds when they resume at-office work. As the lockdown eased on Monday, my friend complained that city commuters cannot afford to adhere to the "new normal" because all the buses in the peak morning hours are packed as usual.
A survey last month by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation on public transport during the Covid-19 crisis involving 437 respondents found that bus shortages linked to longer waiting periods is the most common headache for commuters. Forget about physical distancing -- nobody wants to be late for work.
This probably is the only chance for those belonging to the middle class to feel the plight of low-income workers. Those taking electric trains, be it the BTS or MRT, have encountered similar difficulties. Passengers can practise physical distancing while waiting on the platform, but all the trains during rush hours are so crammed it's impossible to squeeze onto them.
Interestingly, several countries in the EU where lockdown is about to be lifted are discussing ways to make transport more environmentally sound, healthy and sustainable. The UN is proposing bicycles as drivers of a green post-virus recovery. EU policymakers are trying to find alternatives for commuters so they can avoid public transport that might be inadequate during a time when physical distancing must be strictly observed.
Paris' mayor decided to reserve 50km of the busiest lanes in Paris, previously occupied by cars, for cyclists, in a bid to limit crowds on public transport. Another 30 streets around schools were made pedestrian-only. People will get 1,650 baht for bike repairs and employees will receive 13,000 baht from their employers if they commute by bike.
The UK government announced a 74-billion-baht budget to improve cycling and walking in the country to relieve public transport pressure in the wake of Covid-19. Another 9.3 billion baht of funds will go toward improving cycling and walking infrastructure, including widening pavements and building new cycle-only streets.
In Italy, a resident in a city with more than 50,000 inhabitants may claim a 16,000-baht subsidy for a new bike. Spain and Germany are planning to widen bike lanes for cyclists, taking more space from vehicular traffic lanes.
What about Thailand? We are still stuck in the same old world, being haunted by a series of warnings from the CCSA about a new wave of infections if we lower our guard. The government which oversees the CCSA doesn't seem to see the risk of infection from our transport system. But if it keeps ignoring those risks, the next wave of infections isn't hard to predict.