Extended canal shuttle services could ease Bangkok congestion by end of year
Keen to ease the congestion on Bangkok’s traffic-choked streets, the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP) has begun a feasibility study on running shuttle boat services down branches of the Saen Saeb Canal.
Sarawut Songwilai, inspector general of the Interior Ministry and OTP acting director, said the study should be completed in a month when the results would be presented to the committee tasked with solving traffic congestion in metropolitan Bangkok.
The project is aimed at solving traffic snarls in areas affected by the ongoing construction of train lines, such as Lat Prao, Ramkhamhaeng, Min Buri and Bang Kapi.
Existing shuttle boat services from Wat Sri Boonruang to Phan Fah Bridge have proved popular with residents in the area and the OTP is planning to extend the route to the Kwan Riam Floating Market in Min Buri.
The OTP wants to use small branch canals to transport passengers to Saen Saeb where they can catch the main shuttle boat services, Sarawut said.
The study will identify which branch canals can be used for shuttle boat services, the hours they can run, the piers and types of boats, as well as impact on people living along the canal. Small boats with capacity for 10 passengers are being considered, with either the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration or the Harbour Department likely tasked with running the services.
Free pilot services may start this year, Sarawut said.
If successful, the services may be expanded to other small canals, he added.