The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) on Tuesday launched the first of three pilot BTS shuttle bus services, with seven more in the pipeline should these three prove a success.
Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang presided over the opening of the first route under the “BMA Feeder” project — a 26.5-kilometre link between the New Southern Bus Terminal and the BTS Skytrain’s Bang Wa station.
The second route, a 17.5km link between the Kheha Rom Klao and the Airport Rail Link, is scheduled to begin operation next Tuesday, while the third 11.7km route between Bangkok City Hall 2 and BTS Sanam Pao is due to begin operating the week after on Mar 31.
The service on these first three routes will be provided free of charge for the first six months in a bid to gauge the opinion of commuters, which will be taken into consideration when the BMA decides whether to roll out the other seven routes.
Commuters can download a smartphone application called Viabus to check the GPS location of shuttle buses near them in real time.
The ride on the first route, codenamed B1, for instance, takes roughly between 20 to 30 minutes with a bus leaving every 15 minutes during rush hour and every 30 minutes during off-peak periods.
Among the other seven routes planned to be implemented next are a link between Siam Square and Sanam Luang and another connecting Thong Lor and Ekkamai.