The Department of Land Transport has begun installing acrylic partitions inside 3,000 taxis as part of a pilot project to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob yesterday chaired the opening ceremony to launch the first group of taxis installed with partitions under the ministry's "new-normal" initiative to boost public safety in hired passenger vehicles.
Attending were Department of Land Transport director-general Jirut Wisanjit, SCG Chemicals Co-president Thanawong Areeratchakul, officials from the ministry, the company's executives and taxi drivers.
Mr Saksayam said businesses must adjust themselves to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The government has assigned the Transport Ministry to consider measures to prevent the spread of the virus on public transport.
The department came up with the pilot project to install partitions so as to prevent the spread of droplets that could be transmitted while talking, coughing or sniffing, said the minister.
Mr Jirut said SCG Chemicals Co designed the partitions, which were made of high-quality acrylic. They were easily installed in both medium-sized and large vehicles and would not affect visibility. The installation of the partitions began on Sept 16 and by next month all 3,000 participating taxis will have them fitted, he said.
Taxis with the partitions will have a sign on windscreens to let passengers know. Passengers can rate their experiences by scanning the QR Code on the partitions of all participating taxis, he said.