Interprovincial bus company strives to cut high expenses
THE TRANSPORT Co, the state-owned interprovincial bus company, is moving to boost its competitiveness against low-cost airlines.
“The organisation has witnessed a drop of more than 20 per cent in passengers in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year,” chairman Anusorn Saengnumnual said yesterday.
The no-frills airlines can offer competitive prices on long-haul routes of more than 300 kilometres.
“If we want to survive in the long term, we have to adjust our business plan, which is now outlining both short – less than three years – and long-term ones, more than 10 years,” he said.
The business plan is expected to be completed next month.
The Transport Co, even though it can net about Bt300 million to Bt400 million on revenue of about Bt4 billion every year, is now at risk of tougher market conditions brought by incoming rivals such as medium- and high-speed trains.
According to the plan, the organisation will upgrade services, operating efficiency and human-resource management.
“We cannot adjust bus fares as they are controlled by the government, so we need to increase service quality and cut unnecessary expenditures,” he said.
On long-haul routes, the company might switch from large buses to minibuses, which could compete with inter-city public vans with the capacity of about 12-15 passengers.
It will also consider procuring more coaches by leasing rather than buying them. The Transport Co has about 600 of them in its fleet.
The Transport Co plans to build a new bus terminal in Bangkok, which is under the process of selecting an appropriate location, while seeking private partners for cooperation in the commercial development of its existing bus stations.
The new bus terminal is expected to be available for service in two years. It will feature a modern structure and convenience to serve passengers.
The company plans to seek approval from the government to relax the rules and regulations on fuel procurement, so that it can bid for its own fuel. This would help it reduce costs.
“The company consumes about 60 million litres of fuel per year. If we can cut Bt1 per litre, we will save Bt60 million a year,” Anusorn said.
