• 
• 

Published on February 2, 2008

About 90 per cent of its affiliated bus operators have already submitted letters of intent.

The BMTA has received applications from 60 private operators who will jointly provide 4,656 public buses in greater Bangkok, of which 941 will be minibuses.

All buses are required to be installed with NGV-compatible engines by next year.

Changing fuel from diesel to NGV is part of BMTA's rehabilitation plan approved by the Cabinet last month.

BMTA director and secretary Pinate Puapatanakul said yesterday that affiliated bus operators would be given routes depending on their letters of intent.

"The authority will grant a concession for 15 years for new passenger buses with NGV engines, for 10 years for buses retrofitted with NGV engines and seven years for buses with modified NGV engines," he said.

NGV buses should be ready to serve passengers in October next year.

Under the new contracts, operators will provide better-quality service to passengers, and their routes will cover more areas.

Watcharapong Thongrung

 The Nation