New bus shelters

[beau thai]

Anyone noticed the new blue bus shelters with 6 built in seats that have been appearing around the city in recent weeks?

A few ads on them but not much else. Maybe they are just shelters and seats but iI wonder if there may be some kind of bus service starting up to complement songthaew etc.

Any one got any info?

[Thighlander]

I've wondered the same thing, and there seems to be conflicting information on the internet.

There are a few on Suthep that were constructed a few months ago. The only route map I saw seemed to do a circular and reverse circular up/down Suthep, cutting through campus, up/down Huay Kaew, and along the moat. Red Taxi has a huge presence up Suthep, past campus, so I was wondering how harmonious that conflict would be.

[dave2]

re

along the moat

hes right !

this one was put up outside buak hard park in april

dave2

[masuk]

re

along the moat

hes right !

this one was put up outside buak hard park in april

dave2

I noticed another new one being fitted out near Nakornping Condos, on Huawei Kaew Rd.

[dave2]

re

I noticed another new one being fitted out near Nakornping Condos, on Huawei Kaew Rd.

thats been put there for one of our lady members who doesnt have a car

and has to use these to get to

dave2 ... sorry n .... ill get my coat !

[northernjohn]

I've wondered the same thing, and there seems to be conflicting information on the internet.

There are a few on Suthep that were constructed a few months ago. The only route map I saw seemed to do a circular and reverse circular up/down Suthep, cutting through campus, up/down Huay Kaew, and along the moat. Red Taxi has a huge presence up Suthep, past campus, so I was wondering how harmonious that conflict would be.

I seriously doubt they will ever come up with a system to combat the red songthaew's.

They will certainly be of benefit to the people on the routes but depending on each person's willingness to walk from the route to their destination.

I was thinking of the established route for a bus to Hongsoung south of Chiang Mai from Chiang Mai gate. Hardly any competition for the yellow songthaew's.

Please excuse the spelling.

[NancyL]

They always kept the advertising current with the old bus shelters. My theory is that they are just a place to display advertising. And yes, it is nice to have a new shelter in my neighborhood -- the seats in the old shelter were getting pretty nasty.

Reminds me of a story -- when Hubby and I first moved here in 2008 we actually decided to sit in one of the bus shelters and wait for a bus -- any bus, get on it and ride it just to see where it went. After 1.5 hr and no bus, we thought maybe it was a public holiday and went home. We had many, many offers of rides from red songthaews and tuk-tuks, but no bus, of course. I think there was still a route map in the bus shelters in those days, but we couldn't make out anything from it, because North wasn't UP like with route maps in the our country. Of course, we didn't know that buses hadn't been allowed on the streets of CM for a couple of years.

Man, we sure were naive then. And to think we actually had 1.5 hr of free time to sit around waiting in a bus shelter not knowing if a bus would come and then not caring where it would take us.

Edited June 20, 2014 by NancyL

[Sparkles]

Bus shelters but no buses ..makes perfect sense.

[Thighlander]

but they can set there trash down without bending over, you know how they don't like to throw things.

[Mapguy]

They always kept the advertising current with the old bus shelters. My theory is that they are just a place to display advertising. And yes, it is nice to have a new shelter in my neighborhood -- the seats in the old shelter were getting pretty nasty.

Reminds me of a story -- when Hubby and I first moved here in 2008 we actually decided to sit in one of the bus shelters and wait for a bus -- any bus, get on it and ride it just to see where it went. After 1.5 hr and no bus, we thought maybe it was a public holiday and went home. We had many, many offers of rides from red songthaews and tuk-tuks, but no bus, of course. I think there was still a route map in the bus shelters in those days, but we couldn't make out anything from it, because North wasn't UP like with route maps in the our country. Of course, we didn't know that buses hadn't been allowed on the streets of CM for a couple of years.

Man, we sure were naive then. And to think we actually had 1.5 hr of free time to sit around waiting in a bus shelter not knowing if a bus would come and then not caring where it would take us.

A nice story! And you were not the only one.

It might have been the beginning of a nice adventure through Chiang Mai, a sort of private limo since most of the buses actually lacked more than two or three passengers. Had a bus arrived, you would have been alone on a medium-sized very clean A/C modern bus with a driver and a "conducter" in a miniskirt. They actually did do various routes. There was a map. No one, however, could actually figure the map out even if you could find it!

Not to be cynical, but that ill-devised but well-funded boondoggle involved a lot of cozy business. Surprise! The same is true of most of the "grand" urban transit plans (occasionally discussed on ThaiVisa, but not often) That includes the absurd trams proposal that has been proposed in the last few years. Major capital construction and equipment costs! Understand?!

Recent bus shelters? Didn't know about those. I smell local or regional "metro-area" planning by the "local powers that be." Let's see what the current national administrators of Thailand can do about that. There is progress to be made regardless of the "color" of government.

The advertising? Yes, of course. The city does get a fee for those ads as well as ads all over the town on public property (such as the signs that popped up on walkways upon which tall people might get a concusion. The city also gets fees (perhaps through building permits, perhaps more) for ad installations on billboards Including the "lovely" new action-packed "light shows" now appearing around town, especially at traffic intersections.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Mapguy

[northernjohn]

They always kept the advertising current with the old bus shelters. My theory is that they are just a place to display advertising. And yes, it is nice to have a new shelter in my neighborhood -- the seats in the old shelter were getting pretty nasty.

Reminds me of a story -- when Hubby and I first moved here in 2008 we actually decided to sit in one of the bus shelters and wait for a bus -- any bus, get on it and ride it just to see where it went. After 1.5 hr and no bus, we thought maybe it was a public holiday and went home. We had many, many offers of rides from red songthaews and tuk-tuks, but no bus, of course. I think there was still a route map in the bus shelters in those days, but we couldn't make out anything from it, because North wasn't UP like with route maps in the our country. Of course, we didn't know that buses hadn't been allowed on the streets of CM for a couple of years.

Man, we sure were naive then. And to think we actually had 1.5 hr of free time to sit around waiting in a bus shelter not knowing if a bus would come and then not caring where it would take us.

Well Nancy you had a good plan. In the early 80s I had no vehicle in Vancouver BC so I used the buss. Got to seem a lot of things I would never see if driving and was much better on my attitude. No build up to road rage.

My Ex used to ride them to different destinations when we were in the process of splitting up. She got to see a lot of Vancouver and it settled her nerves.

You had the bonus of Hubby's undivided attention for one and a half hours.

[banagan]

A bus service would be nice. A quality, affordable, reliable bus service, with designated bus lanes

Well no harm in wishing.

Anyway, bus shelters! Woo hoo!

[Thakkar]

I think somebody in the municipality got carried away after watching the movie "Field of Dreams" -- 'build it and they will come.'

T

[Thighlander]

There is another one on Nimman, in front of the convention center. Something must be brewing. Nimman/Suthep/HK all have about the worst congestion in the city. Hang Dong Rd. is pretty intense, but it is a lot wider, and actually moves. Nimman is gridlock, well into the evening. Using a car to bar hop on Nimman makes no sense whatsoever.

[northernjohn]

There is another one on Nimman, in front of the convention center. Something must be brewing. Nimman/Suthep/HK all have about the worst congestion in the city. Hang Dong Rd. is pretty intense, but it is a lot wider, and actually moves. Nimman is gridlock, well into the evening. Using a car to bar hop on Nimman makes no sense whatsoever.

Using a car to bar hop makes no sense any where.

Unless you have a dedicated sober driver.