Police to launch 5 measures to ease traffic in Bangkok in 3 months

[webfact]

Police to launch 5 measures to ease traffic in Bangkok in 3 months



BANGKOK: -- The Metropolitan Police Bureau has meted out five measures to ease traffic gridlock by 60 percent in Bangkok in three months’ time.

The measures include: strict enforcement of traffic laws focusing on illegal parking with illegally-parked cars to be towed away and the motorists heavily fined; no double-parking by buses at bus stops, initially at 46 problematic bus stops; traffic rearrangement at 11 Bangkok-bound routes in four corners of the city.

Traffic police will be stationed at entrances and exits of expressways to coordinate with expressway officials to endure there is no gridlock and to arrest offenders who cause traffic problem.

Also, police superintendents at all police stations will be required to solve traffic problem. Their names and phone numbers will be posted at road intersections so that motorists can see and call them directly to report on traffic situation or to lodge complaints.

On top of that, the metropolitan police commissioner can ask for help from the 191 special police unit to help in traffic management if he thinks their help is needed.

All the measures will be launched on December 1 and assessment of the implementation of the measures will be made on monthly basis.

Pol Col Aekkarak Limsangkart, deputy commander of traffic police division, disclosed that the number of cars in Bangkok and five times the capacity of the roads to handle, hence the average speed of driving in the city has dropped to 18 kilometres per hour.

There are about 300,000-400,000 new cars in Bangkok but there is no new road, said the officer.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/police-to-launch-5-measures-to-ease-traffic-in-bangkok-in-3-months

-- Thai PBS 2015-11-30

[trogers]

What about illegal parking by motorcycles?

[robblok]

What about illegal parking by motorcycles?

That has almost no impact as they are small. Besides where i live the motorcycles dont block roads the cars do with double parking.

[Yoram]

Like any other ' will fix in 3-6 months ' promises, this to will start like a Gale force hurricane and fizzle to a fart.

[Barry Friedman]

No mention of better driver education. Surely, this is where traffic management has to start.

[Silurian]

How about starting with curbing in the buses on Phaholyothin Road? Double parking??? Try triple parking and driving in the far right lane (illegal for the buses).

Also, what ever happened to preventing motorcycles from driving on the foot paths? I experience it on a daily basis. That campaign died on the vine.

[jacky54]

I bet that red car never stopped for those pedestrians on the crossing, even on a red light they carry on

[Chicog]

Why don't they just do the odd/even stuff that other countries do?

That's half the cars off the roads at a stroke, and they can mint it fining the ones that ignore it.

[Laughing Gravy]

I would say that often the police cause and perpetuate the traffic problems. Police on automated traffic lights as an example. Policeman lets the traffic go in each direction for 5 minutes. Forgets one direction so the motorists are piling up and have been for 15 minutes. Happens to me every week. putting cones in the U turn for 2 lanes causing traffic to slow.

As with the suggested comments mentioned the only way the traffic will be reduced is take the cars off the road (won't happen) or invest in the infrastructure. If they started now it might be completed in 30 years.

[Alration]

I bet that red car never stopped for those pedestrians on the crossing, even on a red light they carry on

Even though that red car had had a green light in it's favour it looks as if it could have already given precedence to 2 people on the crossing but, carry on and make up a possible bad situation just to have a bash.

[KhunBENQ]

What about significant parking fees on the street as well as the malls?

>1000 new jobs for parking controllers.

In Germany/Switzerland hardly any big city with free/wild parking.

Indefinite length obligation free parking at malls etc. for free?

A thing of the past.

[DirtyDan]

I take the expressway home every night. The only place there is "grid lock" is the one place a police officer is "helping" the flow of traffic. Stopping the merging lanes for 10 minutes instead of letting them zipper into traffic does not help the flow the flow of traffic.

I would say bad things about the design of the loops.. but then I understand who designed the roads and what happens when you question the man at the top.

[kotsak]

I take the expressway home every night. The only place there is "grid lock" is the one place a police officer is "helping" the flow of traffic. Stopping the merging lanes for 10 minutes instead of letting them zipper into traffic does not help the flow the flow of traffic.

I would say bad things about the design of the loops.. but then I understand who designed the roads and what happens when you question the man at the top.

I think the worst of all is when these SOBs are driving on the shoulder lane and then they encounter a car that has actually broken down and stopped on that lane. Then those morons will try to get back on the proper lane and start causing bottlenecks.. No hope :>

[MaxLee]

Police to launch 5 measures to ease traffic in Bangkok in 3 months

[NoBrainer]

How about tackling traffic in Pattaya. It is now worse than in Bangkok. The whole city is plugged up with tour busses parked everywhere. They should ban full size tour buses from the city limits, and replace them with 2 or 3 vans. A lot of the tour busses are less than half full at many times, and there is no parking for them, so the just stop in the middle of the road, until someone comes along and tells them to move, then they go around the block and stop somewhere else.

Makes driving anywhere next to impossible sometimes of the day.

[jacky54]

I bet that red car never stopped for those pedestrians on the crossing, even on a red light they carry on

Even though that red car had had a green light in it's favour it looks as if it could have already given precedence to 2 people on the crossing but, carry on and make up a possible bad situation just to have a bash.

Having been almost mowed down 3 times on zebra crossings in the past 2 years here when lights were red, I feel I have to right to 'bash' driving standards here.

Thai ad 'bashing' appalling driving at crossings

Edited November 30, 2015 by jacky54

[bdenner]

Could probably start by not holding up traffic to waste paint on pedestrian crossings.

[bark]

I wish there was some way to find out what really happens , after they make these statements. 60 % reduction ?

The only one I know; we as the general public can measure is the Songkran Deaths.

Every year they say, they will reduce by xx %. But every year the number goes up !

[TheFishman1]

I don't believe it

[Classic Ray]

The first move should be to implement an Intelligent Traffic System to control the flow of traffic between junctions by managing the traffic lights. Using time-only (especially 90 second or longer intervals) or manually controlled lights is a waste of time. These lights should include intervals to allow pedestrians to cross the roads safely, and remove any non-light controlled crossings or fit them with traffic lights.

The second move is to reduce the number of U turns on busy roads, but if they are essential, U turning traffic should be protected with physical concrete barriers, not cones or plastic barriers, and by directing the main road traffic into a reduced number of lanes.

The third measure is to introduce public transport (bus) lanes, for use by buses, taxis and motorcycles, and enforce prohibition of private cars.

The fourth measure is to introduce congestion charging like London or Singapore. Of course this will depend on enforcing the registration of vehicles, which wouldn't be a bad thing anyway. I suggest 500 baht to each police officer for stopping and removing from the road an unregistered vehicle, or one with excessive penalty notices.

The fifth measure should be to introduce more flyovers and tunnels at junctions to increase flow.

All this takes a lot of money but the situation will not improve without these measures.

[newnative]

If they were serious they would eliminate the toll booths ON the motorway. Every time I visit BKK the traffic is flowing nicely until we come to a toll booth. Then--gridlock! Creep along stop and go for a half hour or more, all to pay a few baht. Finally get going again and POW, gridlock again as the next toll booth has arrived--and not very far from the previous booth!!! Another long, long delay. And, on to the next one with the same outcome. Madness. And, don't say get an Easy Pass--even with a pass you are still stuck in the long, long backup leading up to the toll booths and the easy pass lane. I pity the BKK drivers faced with this every day--and we always try to drive non-rush hour! It's 2015 (or 2558?)--you should only pay when you either get on or off a motorway, never while on it. Let's get modern!

[Doc46]

What is this bullshit?they are suppose to do all those things and more since they made the lawsSo now they have to enforce the laws that are already in place since year Dot,,I think the Government better start again with a complete NEW TRAINED Police force

[waldroj]

All large cities suffer from traffic congestion, but (from my experience) Bangkok really does have some serious problems of its own creation.

A complete lack of town planning has probably been the chief contributor to drivers' woes. Motorists typically don't have many alternate route options, so what roads are available become hopelessly clogged. This is especially so at freeway off ramps and at U-turns.

As if that's not bad enough, Thai drivers habitually ignore road rules (especially when it comes to ignoring predestrians, and parking wherever they want). This also adds to congestion problems and safety issues. To further reinforce my statement about ignoring the rules, breakdown lanes and shoulders are also used with G'day abandon, without any concern for safety.

To say police will ease traffic in Bangkok in three months is like me stating that I'll win the lottery! However, I think the odds of my winning the lottery are better than traffic police doing anything other than contributing to the pain of the road users here.

[NoshowJones]

How about starting with curbing in the buses on Phaholyothin Road? Double parking??? Try triple parking and driving in the far right lane (illegal for the buses).

Also, what ever happened to preventing motorcycles from driving on the foot paths? I experience it on a daily basis. That campaign died on the vine.

That campaign last about 24 hours.

[kennw]

Lets hope they include the Na Na area and accept that illegally parked taxis and motorbikes are a prime cause of congestion in this area.

[brucegoniners]

This is funny.

Do these morons really thing that will do the trick?

1) Get rid of all taxi drivers who have committed a serious crime, thus easing traffic from all the empty taxis.

2) Get rid of the tuk tuks (eases pollution as well).

3) Get rid of all the old busses that cause the pollution and break down regularly and replace them with newer ones.

4) Have a toll system like they do in Bangkok. Unless you live in the city, if you want to drive into the city you pay a toll (like in London, worked wonders there).

5) Get the cops to do their job. Many of the traffic cops at the main intersections are either asleep at the wheel (or watching TV) or being paid off by one party or another to control the traffic in a way that benefits that party.

That’s a great start to reduce traffic and pollution in Bangkok.

And if you want to ease pollution in Bangkok put into place smog controls.

[tigermoth]

What a load of hogwash. None of the so called measures will have the slightest impact,if they are ever enforced. The problem is simply reduce the number of private vehicles on the road and the roads cannot be widened. The only solution is to restrict entry to the city zone. There are many ways of doing this. By numberplate, using odd and even numbers, which will halve the number of vehicles on any given day and enable public transport to function more efficiently. By banning all vehicles from nominated areas between certain hours. By construction a perimeter ring of free parking garages, or very cheap like 20 bht an hour. These could be serviced by free public transport carrying say maximum of 20 persons to the inner city. These type of solutions have worked in many cities throughout the world. Parked vehicles in the city centre is not a huge problem and the motor bikes cause very little blockages. Another bad aspect of current traffic control is the management of traffic lights. The red light is often on for up to 3 or 4 minutes which is absurb. Much shorter times allow a much better flow of traffic, 30 seconds is an acceptable maximum time in most cities. Prohibiting U turns in the city. Let the driver work out his route so a U turn is not involved. Another aspect that should be looked at is the number of heavy vehicles and service vehicles servicing commercial outlets during the busy 7am to 6pm hours. Make all shop, supermarket servicing only possible between the hours of 9pm and 6am. Also ban heavy vehicles between these hours like concrete trucks etc.

[Jim walker]

Another one day wonder then next day back to business as usual, what they need is a mobile crusher and don’t just tow away illegal parked cars and motorcycles just a Hiab pick up the offending vehicle and straight into crusher and a small cube returned to the owner, they would not be so keen in parking where they want when they want, and stick to proper parking zoned areas next time, rather than paying some security guard at the car pound a few hundred Bahts and a sob story to get their car back.

[Jimbo1964]

RTP are going to improve traffic congestion. That would make a nice change rather than what they do now, which is the complete opposite. Lets see how long this lasts for.

[Acharn]

Love it. Even Thaksin didn't go that far. When he was a deputy prime minister in the Barnharn Silpa-archa government in 1995, he promised to fix Bangkok's traffic in six months. Of course, he didn't.