New blue bus service (Airport-Moat-Nimman)

[weary]

Has anyone else noticed the new blue buses downtown? I just found out they are testing out a new bus service until tomorrow, then they will be out of commission during Songkran, and the regular service will start on the 17th - apparently the fee will be 20 baht. The official bus map is only in Thai, but I found this unofficial English translation on Facebook.

[EricTh]

It's about time that CM get a decent public transportation just like Bangkok.

 

Those unscrupulous red mini-buses overcharge most tourists. I see them asking for 50-100 baht for short travel inside the moat unless you can speak Thai and look like Thai.

 

But 20 baht is still expensive if for short distance. That's the same charge for those red buses who charge locals.

 

Hopefully, this will ease the terrible congestion during peak hours.

 

Every 20 minutes interval is too long.

 

 

 

 

[Greenside]

Let's hope this is reliable enough to attract regular users.  20 baht seems about right - 10 would have been better but maybe too fine a margin to avoid an early and very damaging price increase.  I saw one of the buses the other day and my impression was that it looked a but on the large side for the proposed route. Regulating parking and providing bus lanes would give the system a huge advantage but that's a bit radical for CM.  Still, time will tell and it's definitely a step in the right direction.

[EricTh]

4 hours ago, Greenside said:

Let's hope this is reliable enough to attract regular users.  20 baht seems about right - 10 would have been better but maybe too fine a margin to avoid an early and very damaging price increase.  

It's alright for tourists but not for local Thai. Compared to what the red mini-bus charge tourists.

 

Local Thai people can go from Warorot to Mae Jo for just 15 baht and that is way much longer distance.

 

I think this bus is targeted for tourists as there seem to be many complaints regarding overcharging by taxis who refused to use meter at airports. It seems to start and end at the airport.
 

It doesn't seem to stop at Warorot market though which is too bad because it's one of the main attraction and transportation hub.

 

[Dante99]

21 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Local Thai people can go from Warorot to Mae Jo for just 15 baht and that is way much longer distance.

Farangs, other Asians and really anybody can take that ride for the same price, not just Local Thai people.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, Greenside said:

Let's hope this is reliable enough to attract regular users.  20 baht seems about right - 10 would have been better but maybe too fine a margin to avoid an early and very damaging price increase.  I saw one of the buses the other day and my impression was that it looked a but on the large side for the proposed route. Regulating parking and providing bus lanes would give the system a huge advantage but that's a bit radical for CM.  Still, time will tell and it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Bus lanes in CM? Good lord, they don't have enough room for the traffic they have now. I spent 20 minutes getting from the airport road overbridge to the Holiday Inn at 3pm today on the old Lamphun road. That should have taken 5 minutes max.

I saw the bus at the airport the other day, and it is too big. It should have been about a Coaster size. If it's like the old service, hardly anyone will use it.

Good try, but a bus that big is just adding to the congestion.

At the least it needs to have bus stops to the side so traffic can get past, but, of course, it's just another show pony and nothing done to make it a success.

There's nothing to stop them starting a songtheaw fixed route service like Pattaya has, but seems to me the C M authorities just don't care if it's chaos out there.

The red songtheaws supposed to cost 30 baht, but try getting one at that price!

[thaibeachlovers]

43 minutes ago, EricTh said:

It's alright for tourists but not for local Thai. Compared to what the red mini-bus charge tourists.

 

Local Thai people can go from Warorot to Mae Jo for just 15 baht and that is way much longer distance.

 

I think this bus is targeted for tourists as there seem to be many complaints regarding overcharging by taxis who refused to use meter at airports. It seems to start and end at the airport.
 

It doesn't seem to stop at Warorot market though which is too bad because it's one of the main attraction and transportation hub.

 

Have you seen the bus? It would never get through Wararot market road. They need to demolish Wararot market, which is a disgrace anyway, and build a proper new one and a proper bus terminal with decent road access. Chances of that happening- probably zero.

In fact, they probably need to bite the bullet and widen all the main thoroughfares, as the traffic is becoming impossible. It's beyond the ability of the police to fix, and all they can do is move the deckchairs about as the Titanic ( Chiang Mai ) slowly sinks under the weight of vehicles trying to move on the completely inadequate roads.

[EricTh]

4 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Have you seen the bus? It would never get through Wararot market road. They need to demolish Wararot market, which is a disgrace anyway, and build a proper new one and a proper bus terminal with decent road access. Chances of that happening- probably zero.

In fact, they probably need to bite the bullet and widen all the main thoroughfares, as the traffic is becoming impossible. It's beyond the ability of the police to fix, and all they can do is move the deckchairs about as the Titanic ( Chiang Mai ) slowly sinks under the weight of vehicles trying to move on the completely inadequate roads.

 

No, I haven't seen the bus yet. I am saying that it should stop very near Warorot, maybe 3 minutes walk, don't have to go inside Warorot.

 

The road in Nimman is not wide too but it still passes there.

 

Yeah, they should build smaller buses.

[NancyL]

They really need to do more publicity both in English and Chinese for the tourists for these buses.  I don't have a problem with the songthaews, but I can speak enough Thai where they know that I live here and know the landmarks. 

 

But I cringe when I hop on a songthaew at Maya Mall and watch a small group of Chinese tourists thrust their phone onto the driver to indicate where they want to go.  That's a long light and usually the songthaews can fill up with Chinese tourists.  Often one in their group can speak enough English where I can ask where they're going and how much they're being charged.   Usually, they're being ripped off.  I don't say anything, but just smile and nod.  Better than having them on motor scooters. 

[EricTh]

3 hours ago, NancyL said:

 Usually, they're being ripped off.  I don't say anything, but just smile and nod.  Better than having them on motor scooters. 

Agree. There are many of these red cars and tuk-tuk who wait patiently outside Kad Suan Kaew to pounce on Chinese tourists. 

 

I've asked them how much they pay per person and it's a ripoff for such a short distance.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎4‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 8:05 PM, EricTh said:

 

No, I haven't seen the bus yet. I am saying that it should stop very near Warorot, maybe 3 minutes walk, don't have to go inside Warorot.

 

The road in Nimman is not wide too but it still passes there.

 

Yeah, they should build smaller buses.

I just checked the map, and it could very well stop near the bridge and then go down past the night market before going back to the moat, but realistically, that would be better incorporated in a completely different route.

The main problem I can see is resistance by "vested interests" if it became successful, and the bus is just too big. 

I still think it's unnecessary anyway, as they could just have songtheaws on a regular route at a fixed price like Pattaya does, where it works successfully. I don't understand why that wasn't in place 20 years ago.

What is not in dispute, is that the present system is inefficient, open to overcharging, and does not serve the public well.

[CNXBKKMAN]

I wouldn't say the bus is too big. Its just a regular sized bus you see in cities all over the world. Having one bus route running clockwise and anti clockwise can only be successful up to a point. A network of bus routes need to be established connecting to each other with transfers so you can get almost anywhere. Catch the bus in Maejo get off at Festival transfer to the Doi Saket bus or the bus that goes to CMU/Zoo etc. Its early days but hopefully CM can join the 20th Century in 2018. How many cities in the world have a bus network of one route?

[thaibeachlovers]

33 minutes ago, CNXBKKMAN said:

I wouldn't say the bus is too big. Its just a regular sized bus you see in cities all over the world

Maybe so, but there isn't any room on C M city roads for a regular service full size bus, and probably not enough passengers to make it necessary. The existing service is usually empty.

It's not even necessary, if the council cared enough to have regular routes for red songtheaws.

Pattaya has no big buses and their service with baht buses is excellent.

[Sparkles]

Its going to pretty well impossible to run to a schedule.Around school closing and opening times, around the moat and nearby areas, are almost at a standstill.

A 600 year old city with narow roads is just not condusive to ground level transportation of any size.

 

I wouldnt mind if the songteaws were well maintained and followed a set route and didnt further polute the already foul air but thats not going to happen.

The yearly exhaust emission test are obviously avoided and dishonesty is rife unless you are a local

 

Of course they tried to get a bus service going a few years back .Those vehicles are now somewhere in a compound in CM rusting away.

The songteaw mafia saw to that.

 

Ive heard and seen little of the bus link between Ban Tawai and the city .The bus stops are still there but never see anyone waiting for bus.

 

In Bangkok I made use of motor cycle taxis for ,most of my short trips but again they are apparently not allowed within the city of CM

 

There is no easy answer, underground rail would never be financially viable and a light mono rail system would appear is not supported.

 

 

 

 

[EricTh]

4 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Maybe so, but there isn't any room on C M city roads for a regular service full size bus, and probably not enough passengers to make it necessary. The existing service is usually empty.

It's not even necessary, if the council cared enough to have regular routes for red songtheaws.

Pattaya has no big buses and their service with baht buses is excellent.

Red songtha are just too small and expensive.

 

The government needs to cut down the cost of hiring drivers so that bus fare can be cheaper.

 

A bigger bus will carry more people and more  economical wise.

 

Of course, the  bus must not be too big to block the whole road.

[EricTh]

1 hour ago, Sparkles said:

 

 

There is no easy answer, underground rail would never be financially viable and a light mono rail system would appear is not supported.

 

 

 

The problem is not that it is not viable, there was a newspaper report that said the government wanted an efficient and cheap public transport in CM.

 

But the biggest obstacle are those companies which control those red mini-buses. They don't want to lose their income by ripping off tourists.

 

That's why we have this terrible congestion during peak hours that rival Bangkok notorious jams.

 

This will only get worse and worse as the population grows and private profits overrule public interest.

 

If you go to Hong Kong, their public transport is so efficient.

[naboo]

On 4/10/2018 at 7:54 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

The red songtheaws supposed to cost 30 baht, but try getting one at that price!

The English on the side says the fare is 20B. The Thai on the side says the fare is no more than 30B. It is still 20B for short trips in the city and I have no problem getting it for that.

 

Find a temple close to where you are going and give the driver the name of the temple. Hand him 20B at the destination. Works every time, though I've not tried Wat Loi Kroh.

[NancyL]

A smaller bus, like the ones used for the Lampang-Chiang Mai route that originates from Wararot Market would seem to be the right size.  Those are the "VIP buses", an alternative to the un-airconditioned and crowded songthaew transport available for the same route. Those buses seem to be popular with the Thai people and used by many daily commuters.

[Greenside]

Yes, that's more appropriate and maybe more could be put on the route which would result in less waiting time and better uptake.

[weary]

Curious to hear from anyone who has tried them?

[NancyL]

Yeah, Hubby has ridden them a few times with good reports.  Sometimes they have someone on board to collect the fare, but often not and then you just ride free. 

 

They have a handy app you can download onto a smartphone that shows the route, the bus stops and the little buses moving around, in real time.  It's called CM Transit by RTC.  The station names are in Thai, so it helps if you can read Thai, but if you know your way around a city map, you can pretty much figure out where the the stations are located, like at Kad Suan Kaew, in front of Suan Dok hospital, the Maya Mall intersection, the airport, etc.  The really cool feature is watching the buses move around in real time, so you can determine if it's a good idea to go wait at a bus stop, or better to just figure out another mode of transport.

[bubba]

Was just looking for the CM Transit app that Nancy mentioned and it appears that the app is Android only and does not have an iOS version.

[sanemax]

Took one of the buses yesterday , luxurious to sit on an air-con bus , unlike in red cars and tuk-tuks when you so close to the exhaust pipe and you breathe in the fumes .

   Great value at only 20 Baht and much safer than other transport

[Sparkles]

On ‎4‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 6:50 PM, EricTh said:

 

The problem is not that it is not viable, there was a newspaper report that said the government wanted an efficient and cheap public transport in CM.

 

But the biggest obstacle are those companies which control those red mini-buses. They don't want to lose their income by ripping off tourists.

 

That's why we have this terrible congestion during peak hours that rival Bangkok notorious jams.

 

This will only get worse and worse as the population grows and private profits overrule public interest.

 

If you go to Hong Kong, their public transport is so efficient.

Any transport system eventually has to be financialy viable ,able to stand on it own or where is the subsidy for operating losses going to come from?             I doubt Bangkok would prop up a failing CM system,you only have to look at CM Imm to see that.

 

From my casual observations its well used from the airport but once on the loop usage drops dramatically ,in fact have seen many buses with no more than 3 customers,sometimes zero.

 

I didnt expect the buses to be of Bangkok size (population of 10 m residents) A 20 seater fleet would have made much more sense and they could have used the extra money to put more on the road and shorten waiting times

[NancyL]

1 hour ago, bubba said:

Was just looking for the CM Transit app that Nancy mentioned and it appears that the app is Android only and does not have an iOS version.

Samsung Rules!

[sanemax]

A Blue number 5 bus was driving past me and it stopped at a bus stop beside me and I just jumped on and when asked by the driver , I just tole him that I would go anywhere the bus goes .

   We eventually arrived at the airport and I got off for a look around and an hour or so later , I went back to the bus stop and waited for a number 5 bus to take me home again .

   I now realise that I could have gotton on any number bus , as they all go on the same route .

    Live & learn

[moe666]

A friend used this bus a while back before it became the blue bus. He ask Chiang Mai Gate yes was the reply. But chiang Mai gate was one of the final stops before going back to Airport after about 45min. he got to his destination. .

[CMsojourner]

6 hours ago, bubba said:

Was just looking for the CM Transit app that Nancy mentioned and it appears that the app is Android only and does not have an iOS version.

While it’s not an app, according to the RTC FaceBook page you can still see the Route 3 bus stops (including the next bus’ current whereabouts) on a desktop computer -or -on a mobile browser with a data plan:   http://chiangmai.yusai.asia/app/#/app/map

[bubba]

2 hours ago, CMsojourner said:

While it’s not an app, according to the RTC FaceBook page you can still see the Route 3 bus stops (including the next bus’ current whereabouts) on a desktop computer -or -on a mobile browser with a data plan:   http://chiangmai.yusai.asia/app/#/app/map

Thanks for searching that up and it works fine even on an iOS device...who needs an app!

[NancyL]

The app and the map referenced in post No. 28 just shows the R3 route.  You may wonder about the little bus icons that appear to be wandering off course.  Well, those buses are on the R1 route, not shown on either the app or the map of post No. 28.  Hubby got on an R1 bus today, kind of by accident, because their routes overlap on Huay Kaew between Kad Suan Kaew and Maya Mall.  The R1 bus continues down Huay Kaew to the Zoo, doubles back to the Chang Puek bus station, goes around the NE corner of the Old City, heads down Chang Moi, into Warorot Market, across the Narawat Bridge, past McCormick Hospital and Prince Royal college, stops at the Arcade Bus station and eventually ends up at Central Festival.

 

Hubby rode that route today -- 45 minutes from the Zoo to Central Festival, all in aircon comfort.  Gave him time to buy a Rabbit card for future rides.  He can top it up at any McDonald's.  Bus driver insisted on a photo of him and another white guy buying their Rabbit cards on the bus.  He's probably on someone's Facebook now.  

 

Of course since this "hidden" route is called R3 (Hubby says the front of the bus was labeled R3) and the app shows the R1 route to the airport, it begs of the question of whether there's an equally hidden R2 route.  Anyone seen a bus labeled R2?