Bangkok Mass Transit Authority ( th, องค์การขนส่งมวลชนกรุงเทพ), also known as BMTA ( th, ขสมก. ), is the main operator of public transit buses within the
Greater Bangkok
The Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) ( th, กรุงเทพมหานครและปริมณฑล; ; ), may refer to a government-defined "political definition" of the urban region surrounding the metropolis of Bangkok, or the built ...
area. It is the largest city bus system in Thailand. The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority offers bus and van routes throughout the city and its suburban provinces.
The BMTA is a
state enterprise under
Ministry of Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...
that started operations on 1 October 1976 upon the purchase and combination of the transportation assets of private bus companies, most of which had faced crises due to sharply rising oil prices since 1973. The government, in 1975, addressed the crisis by setting up a public-private joint venture called the Metropolitan Transit Company, Limited ( th, บริษัทมหานครขนส่ง จำกัด), but the effort failed to materialize. It tried again in 1976 by setting up BMTA as a fully state-owned enterprise under the control of the transport ministry.
Since then, the organization has been the main operator of city buses. However, some private bus companies opted to continue their service on certain routes under joint service contracts with BMTA instead of selling their assets to the state. Despite government subsidies, BMTA has posted losses from day one, resulting in deteriorating quality of service.
About
The BMTA service area covers the Bangkok metropolis and its suburban areas in the adjacent provinces of
Nonthaburi
Nonthaburi ( th, นนทบุรี, ) is the principal city of the district and province of the same name in Thailand.
On 15 February 1936, Nonthaburi town municipality (''thesaban mueang'') was established, which only covered Suan Yai ...
,
Samut Prakan,
Pathum Thani
Pathum Thani ( th, ปทุมธานี, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand, directly north of Bangkok. It is the capital of the Pathum Thani province, Thailand as well as the Mueang Pathum Thani district. As of 2005, it ha ...
,
Nakhon Pathom
Nakhon Pathom ( th, นครปฐม, ) is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in central Thailand, the former capital of Nakhon Pathom province. One of the most important landmarks is the giant Phra Pathommachedi. The city is also home to Thailand's ...
, and
Samut Sakhon
Samut Sakhon ( th, สมุทรสาคร, Pronunciation is a City in Thailand, capital of Samut Sakhon province. It is a stop on the Maeklong Railway. Samut Sakhon is 48 km from Bangkok.
It is part of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region ...
. It serves approximately three million passengers per day. The service hours are 05:00-23:00, except for a 24-hr night-owl service on some routes. , BMTA owned a fleet of 3,005 buses—1,520 ordinary buses and 1,485 air-conditioned buses. In addition to BMTA-owned buses, there are 3,485 privately-owned contract buses, 1,113 contracted minibuses, 2,161 side-street
songthaews, and 5,519 vans. In total, there were 15,857 buses and vans for 427 routes across eight zones.
* Zone 1: North (Hubs: Rangsit, Don Mueang, Bang Khen, Lam Luk Ka, Pathum Thani)
* Zone 2: Northeast (Hubs: Min Buri, Siam Park, Bang Kapi, Lat Krabang, Nong Jok, Prawet)
* Zone 3: Southeast (Hubs: Pak Nam, Samrong, Bangna, Bang Phli, Mega Bangna, Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo)
* Zone 4: South and Central (Hubs: Khlong Toei, Thanon Tok, Sathu Pradit Pier, Rama III Rd, Rama IX Rd, Huai Khwang, Ratchadaphisek)
* Zone 5: Southwest (Hubs: Dao Khanong, Phra Pradaeng, Phra Samut Chedi, Samae Dam, Samut Sakhon, Chaeng Ron, Maha Chai Muang Mai)
* Zone 6: West (Hubs: Bangkhae, Thonburi, Wat Rai Khing & Samphran, Nakorn Pathom, Phasi Charoen, Sala Ya, Taling Chan)
* Zone 7: Northwest (Hubs: Nonthaburi, Pak Kret, Tha-it, Bang Yai, Bang Bua Thong, Nakhon In, Muang Thong Thani, Lak Si)
* Zone 8: Northeast and Central (Hubs: Siam Park, Bang Kapi, Ram Inthra, Lat Phrao, Huai Khwang, Chatuchak, Mo Chit, Bang Sue, Din Daeng, Ratchathewi)
Financials
For
fiscal year
A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...
2017 ending 30 September 2017, the BMTA reported revenues of 8,114 million
baht
The baht (; th, บาท, ; sign: ฿; code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. SWIFT ranked the Thai baht as the 10th-m ...
, total assets of 8,127 million baht, and a net profit of minus 110,550 million baht.
BMTA's poor financial performance has prompted the State Enterprise Policy Office (SEPO) to step in with a plan for "business rehabilitation". Its central strategies are the purchase of 3,000 new buses to halve fuel costs and lower maintenance costs, and the adoption of automated ticketing to make 5,000 ticket-takers redundant. The
Finance Ministry
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
may help defray the hundreds of billions of BMTA debt when the BMTA reaches profitability.
Bus routes
Fare collection
The BMTA allows riders to board a bus and pay with cash or coupons. In 2017, the government planned to implement a common ticketing system across all
mass transit modes, allowing passengers to pay with a single
smart card known as the
Mangmoom Card
The Mangmoom Card (Thai for "spider") is a planned stored-value card for rapid transit systems in Bangkok. Currently, many commuters carry multiple cards, since the existing Rabbit Card only works on the BTS Skytrain and Bangkok BRT, while the M ...
.
In December 2017, the BMTA abandoned a plan to install automated cash collection boxes as impractical, after having installed 800 of the devices. It halted the planned installation of the remaining 1,800 machines. The move prompted a ''Bangkok Post'' editorial to note that, "The fiasco reminds Bangkok commuters of just how poorly served they are and how inefficient and incompetent the agency
MTAis. Similar to its ageing bus fleet, the BMTA itself has reached a stage where its management desperately needs a revamp."
The cash box plan was part of the agency's 1.6 billion
baht
The baht (; th, บาท, ; sign: ฿; code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. SWIFT ranked the Thai baht as the 10th-m ...
automated bus fare collection project that also covers the installation of e-ticket reading machines on all 2,600 buses serving Bangkok routes. Since October 2017, 800 buses has installed the cash boxes, which required passengers to feed in coins one-by-one. The "improvement" proved far too slow to be practicable.
The change would have resulted in the "replacement" of 2,600 bus conductors, according to the chairman of the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority. The chairman originally stated that he expected workers would take up early retirement packages once all the buses were equipped with cashless card readers.
Bus fleet
BMTA operates air-conditioned and ordinary buses from various makers, most of which are Japanese. The air-conditioned bus fleet consists of buses from
Hino,
Isuzu,
Daewoo
Daewoo ( ; Hangul: , Hanja: , ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "dae" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerat ...
, and
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
(standard and articulated). The ordinary bus fleet consists of buses from Hino, Isuzu, and
Mitsubishi Fuso. Ordinary buses are being phased out. Most buses are
diesel powered
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...
, but they are being converted to cleaner and cheaper
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
(
NGV). It operates new routes of NGV-powered vans, shuttling people between city center and suburban communities.
The BMTA has been working for 11 years to procure 489 natural gas-powered buses to replace its ageing fleet and is expected to complete the task in 2018. It plans to buy 35 electric buses and 2,476 hybrid buses in the future.
As of March 2021, the BMTA fleet consists of the following bus
Air-Conditioned Buses
File:Isuzu CQA650A-T 543 1-3081.jpg, Isuzu CQA650A/T
File:Hino HU3KSKL 22 4-4007.jpg, alt=, Hino HU3KSKL
File:Hino RU1JSSL 77 4-44085.jpg, Hino RU1JSSL (44XXX)
File:Hino RU1JSSL 503 1-45003.jpg, Hino RU1JSSL (45XXX)
File:Hino RU1JSSL (Renovate) 39 1-45090.jpg, Hino RUJSSL (Renovated)
File:Hino EURO II Spare Bus 3-44202 (2).jpg, Hino RUJSSL (Renovated Spare Bus)
File:Isuzu LV223S 114 1-55178.jpg, Isuzu LV223S
File:Isuzu LV423R 515 6-56079.jpg, Isuzu LV423R
File:Daewoo EURO II Bus 137 (5).jpg, Daewoo BH115H
File:Daewoo EURO II Bus 73 (7).jpg, Daewoo BH115
File:Daewoo EURO II Renovated Bus 8-67132 (3).jpg, alt=, Daewoo BH115 (Renovated)
File:Bonluck JXK6120L-NGV-01 20 5-70010.jpg, Bonluck JXK6120L-NGV-01
File:Hino HU2ASKP-VJT A1 1-46001.jpg, alt=, Hino HU2ASKP-VJT
Ordinary Buses
File:Hino AK176 59 1-40018.jpg, Hino AK176
File:Isuzu MT111QB 66 7-50004.jpg, Isuzu MT111QB
File:Mitsubishi Fuso RP118 96 2-80110.jpg, Mitsubishi Fuso RP118
File:Mitsubishi Renovated Bus 8-80040 (2).jpg, Mitsubishi Fuso RP118 (Renovated 1)
File:Mitsubishi Renovated Bus 8-80416 (3).jpg, Mitsubishi Fuso RP118 (Renovated 2)
See also
*
Buses in Bangkok
*
BRT (Bangkok)
The Bangkok BRT is a bus rapid transit system in Bangkok, Thailand. Of five routes that were originally planned, only one line has been operating since 2010, with the other routes cancelled. Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) announced the ...
*
MRT
MRT may refer to:
Transport Rapid Transit Systems
* Mass Rapid Transit (disambiguation)
* MRT (Singapore) or Mass Rapid Transit, Singapore
* MRT (Bangkok) or Metropolitan Rapid Transit, Thailand
* Manila Metro Rail Transit System, Philippine ...
*
Bus No. 8
*
List of bus routes in Bangkok
Citybuses in Greater Bangkok are served by a state-owned citybus operator Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) and private operators sub-contracted by either BMTA or Department of Land Transport. Since began operation, BMTA acted as the bangko ...
*
List of rapid transit systems
References
External links
Bangkok Mass Transit AuthorityBangkok bus Club
{{authority control
Bus transport in Bangkok
Companies based in Bangkok
Transport companies established in 1976
1976 establishments in Thailand
State enterprises of Thailand