Subway Advised To Cut Fees

[george]

Subway advised to cut fees

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok Metro Co Ltd (BMCL) has been advised to consider cutting fares on its subway, as usage dropped in half after it switched from the inaugural promotional Bt10 flat fare to its regular tariff.

After the country’s first subway system opened for business on July 3, on average 250,000 people a day were enjoying the underground trip. But after August 12 fares were hiked to between Bt12 and Bt31, depending on the distance travelled.

“BMCL should review the fares and launch additional promotional activities to draw more passengers. Meanwhile, the government will try to find money to compensate for some of the lost revenue,” Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said yesterday.

Prapat Chongsanguan, governor of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand, which owns the subway network, said that despite the cutback in passengers, BMCL still made about Bt2 million a day thanks to the higher fares.

“We’ll observe the situation for a month and if ridership remains low then BMCL should increase its advertising budget or bring down the fares. The more passengers, the more revenue, [which is good] given that the company’s fixed costs remain the same,” Praphat said.

During the promotion, usage peaked on July 10 with 262,794 passengers. The total of Bt89.5 million in revenue generated during the promotion will be presented to Their Majesties the King and Queen.

With the slip in usage, BMCL’s financial outlook is bleak.

The company is now raising its registered capital to Bt7.35 billion by issuing 300 million new shares at a par value of Bt1. The board of directors of property developer Natural Park yesterday approved the company’s subscription to 49.4 million new shares of BMCL to maintain its 24.7-per-cent interest.

Ch Karnchang Plc, a construction company, is another shareholder of BMCL.

--The Nation 2004-08-18

[george]

Government urges metro fare cut in Bangkok after passenger slump

BANGKOK : The Thai government has urged a fare cut for a new metro system designed to ease Bangkok's traffic woes after passengers drifted away when a cut-price ticket deal ended.

Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said users had almost halved after the flat rate 10 baht (25 US cents) ticket offer ended on August 12 after hitting a peak of 262,794 on July 10, a week after it opened.

Fares now range from 12 to 31 baht, which are considered too expensive for many Thai workers.

"BMCL (Bangkok Metro Co. Ltd.) should review the fares and launch additional promotional activities to draw more passengers. Meanwhile the government will try to find money to compensate for some of the lost revenue," Suriya was quoted as saying in The Nation newspaper.

The new service, built through a public-private partnership, was opened amid great fanfare last month.

It has 18 stations that swing through some of the city's most densely populated areas with officials hoping the 2.5-billion-dollar line could see as many as 100,000 commuters per hour riding the rails.

However, the number of commuters using the system has proved disappointing and academics claimed the metro would have little effect on Bangkok's notorious traffic problems.

The company said revenue had risen from two million to three million baht a day despite only 150,000 now riding the metro every day, according to reports.

"We'll observe the situation for a month and if ridership remains low then BMCL should increase its advertising budget or bring down the fares," Praphat Chongsanguan, governor of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority, which owns the subway network, told The Nation.

Years of mismanagement, failed transport initiatives and a boom in car ownership have all added to the frustrations of millions of Thais stuck every day in unmoving traffic on the city's steamy streets.

-- AFP 2004-08-18

[Insight]

D'oh! I thought you meant the butty place George...

Owing to the average mentality of this forum, I should take the time out to mention that "butty" means Sandwich where I come from, as in two peices of bread with stuff in the middle.

[stumonster]

make it equivalent in price to taking an air-cond bus, and maybe the skytrain could follow suit.

[The Gentleman Scamp]

Why didn't they just introduce a car charge in central BKK - they could have made billions, we'd have no traffic and the subway wouldn't have even been nesscessary.

[Nemesis]

Neither the Skytrain or the Subway price setters know a thing about economics.

If they would drop their prices to say 10 baht for anyone going anywhere within the system the volume would make them more money than the ridiculous higher stepped fare exant.

Ask McDonalds or Wal Mart or Beer Chang about volume.

[Nemesis]

On a related topic, the original diesel engine shown at the 1898 World's Fair ran on peanut oil. Don't ya think that over 100 years later it could be made to run on palm oil,peanut oil, coconut oil, etc, all of which South East Asia has a surplus of and could be self sufficient? Why, of course.

Most diesel engines can run on this fuel with no tech change needed already.

Start developing this fuel and wean away from the oil companies high priced diesel fuel. A no brainer really.

[Sphere]

Subway advised to cut fees

Why? Cant people afford sandwiches anymore?

[paulfr]

Nemesis

Well we are off topic here but I am curious.

If unrefined vegetable oil will fuel an internal combustion

engine, what are the advantages of using refined

petroleum and what are the disadvantages of using

the vegetable oil ??

[BKK_banger]

Diesel fuel is made from several of the heavier distillates. petroleum likewise.

If you used vegetable oil you would have to grow the ###### stuff, process it, refine it, transport it etc. There is a world food shortage???

In general pumping it from the ground and processing it in industrial quantities is cheaper than growing it. When oil runs out this will be an alternative fuel source.

As to having cheaper fares Dr. Sombat of BMCL has told the governor of MRTA K. Prapat to ###### off. Understandable with his long experience of the BECL expressways sagas. As soon as you show weakness the govt. thinks they can push you around on fares.

Having said all that the Siemens supplied ticketing machines were not working again yesterday. the queues were horrendous. Bring back 10 Baht fares until you solve it Dr. S !!!!!!!!

[possom]

the point of the subway was to reduce traffic congestion ,was it not ?? so surely the primary goal should be getting as many to use it as possible . cheap(ish) fares are the only answer

[xbusman]

The trick with mass transit is that the costs are relatively fixed compared to other industries. When you run a scheduled service it costs about exactly the same if the vehicle is loaded or unloaded. Airlines were forced to learn this lesson the hard way when low overhead carriers decided they would be best served by filling the seats. Those airlines running full airplanes are making money, the airlines running empty airplanes are filing for bankruptcy. The really unusual part of that is that the budget airlines are actually getting more revenue per passenger mile than the old line carriers. That comes simply from having cheaper fares and full seats.

Usually setting prices for mass transit is a pretty tricky business with alot of time and effort going into demographics, alternative transportation prices, schedule timing, and many transit agencies spend considerable time and effort to get that just right balance. Appears to me that in Thailand the pricing structure for transportation is all very arbitrary. Probably the most understandable price is negotiating with the motorcycle taxis......

[NedKelly]

I agree, they need to drop their fares for sure. It's a little like hotels having bar fridges full of stuff at very high prices....no-one uses the stuff !! I never understand hotels on this one.......I asked one time, why dont you reduce your prices and make a higher turnover ? The answer was just....we cant do that .....so I asked Why not ? Again, it was 'we cant do that'.......I give up. But one hotel Iknow keeps the bar friedge empty......fantastic......they own the convenience store out front where they encourage people to buy stuff at lower prices and accordingto what they need. This is avery succesful arrangement.

[Nemesis]

1. If you used vegetable oil you would have to grow the ###### stuff, process it, refine it, transport it etc.

2. There is a world food shortage???

3. When oil runs out this will be an alternative fuel source.

1. Growing bio-fuels will be much easier than exploring for, drilling for, pumping and transporting the so called and mis-labeled 'fossil' fuels.

2. There is no world food shortage. In fact, there is a surplus. Corporate famers in the US get paid not to plant some crops.

3. We will never run out of oil and it is being replenished within the earth's core. This has been known for years. You've bought the oil companies and the government's propaganda.

Bangkok's bus system could easily be converted to run on bio-fuel. The fuel would be available within the country, creating an entiore new industry, but the oil companies have been prevening that from happening, for obvious reasons.

[Nemesis]

what are the advantages of using refined

petroleum and what are the disadvantages of using

the vegetable oil ??

The advantage currently for using diesel is it's less expensive than boi fuels, but the pollution costs are not factored in. Large scale production of bio-fuels would eventually drop the price to compete with the less expensive diesel fuel.

Bio fuel burns cleaner, non-toxic, biodegradable and renewable.

[kat]

On a related topic, the original diesel engine shown at the 1898 World's Fair ran on peanut oil. Don't ya think that over 100 years later it could be made to run on palm oil,peanut oil, coconut oil, etc, all of which South East Asia has a surplus of and could be self sufficient? Why, of course.

Most diesel engines can run on this fuel with no tech change needed already.

Start developing this fuel and wean away from the oil companies high priced diesel fuel. A no brainer really.

I couldn't agree with this more. Bouganiville is already using coconut oil to run engines, not that the former Paupa New Guinea country is a trendsetter or anything. It should be though.

The flat rate of 10 baht for the new subway system is totally a no-brainer, one which they will adopt now that the hard specter of profit loss is staring them in the face.

In terms of using alternative fuels and technology, the benefits go beyond environmental considerations to very serious and obvious political issues. However, even with the complete transition to alternatives, we still face obstacles in weaning ourselves off of petroleum. The hard plastics that are used in wind turbos are produced using petroleum.

[otherstuff1957]

1. If you used vegetable oil you would have to grow the ###### stuff, process it, refine it, transport it etc.

2. There is a world food shortage???

3. When oil runs out this will be an alternative fuel source.

1. Growing bio-fuels will be much easier than exploring for, drilling for, pumping and transporting the so called and mis-labeled 'fossil' fuels.

2. There is no world food shortage. In fact, there is a surplus. Corporate famers in the US get paid not to plant some crops.

.

3. We will never run out of oil and it is being replenished within the earth's core. This has been known for years. You've bought the oil companies and the government's propaganda.

Bangkok's bus system could easily be converted to run on bio-fuel. The fuel would be available within the country, creating an entiore new industry, but the oil companies have been prevening that from happening, for obvious reasons.

1. Growing bio-fuels will be much easier than exploring for, drilling for, pumping and transporting the so called and mis-labeled 'fossil' fuels.

True

2. There is no world food shortage. In fact, there is a surplus. Corporate famers in the US get paid not to plant some crops.

True. People are starving for political reasons, not economic ones.

3. We will never run out of oil and it is being replenished within the earth's core. This has been known for years. You've bought the oil companies and the government's propaganda.

FALSE. Yes, oil is being replenished within the Earth's CRUST, but it is being formed at a much much slower rate than we are using it. Within our lifetimes (within the next 10-20 years) we will see the end of cheap fossil fuels. This was the subject of my senior thesis (B.S. Geology, Stanford University).