lower bus fares to come into force next week

The Land Transport Committee yesterday approved fare cuts for non-air-conditioned buses, air-conditioned buses, and mini-buses, effective from October 28.

  The fare of non-air-conditioned buses will fall by Bt1.50, while that of air-conditioned and mini buses will go down by Bt1.

Chalor Kotcharat, acting director-general of Marine Department, said after the meeting that inter-province bus operators of Transport Co would also cut fares by 3 satang per kilometre, while those of Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) would slash fares by between Bt1 to Bt1.50.

The non-air-conditioned buses of BMTA will cut fares by Bt1.50 to Bt7.50 from the present Bt9, while those operating under its concession will cut fares to Bt8.50 from the present Bt10 for non-air-conditioned buses.

 The BMTA air-conditioned buses will reduce fares to between Bt12 to Bt20 depending on the distance, down from Bt13 to Bt21, while the air-conditioned Euro2 buses will reduce fares to Bt13 to Bt23 from Bt14 to Bt24. The mini-buses will reduce fare to Bt7 from Bt8.

A source at the Marine Department said that the Chao Phya ferry operators had decided to cut fares by Bt2, which will see the fare of orange-flag Chao Phya ferry operators falling to Bt15 from Bt17, while those of the yellow-flag operators falling to between Bt20 to Bt29 from Bt22 to Bt31, depending on the distance. Both orange and yellow flag ferries are express boats.

 The normal Chao Phya ferries will reduce fare to between Bt10 to Bt14 from between Bt11 to Bt15.

 The operators of boats for crossing the river will cut fare by 50 satang but only at piers where the passenger numbers don't exceed 5,000 per day. Therefore, the fare will fall to between Bt2.50 to Bt3.50 from between Bt3 to Bt4.

 The Sanseab canal boats will cut fare by Bt2 to between Bt10 to Bt20 according to the distance. New fare rates of ferries, boats are expected November 1.