Bangkok traffic: Cops and private sector meet at HQ to decide there are just too many cars!

[Emster23]

Eliminate police convoys and all the cops that stop traffic on the route. In other words, everyone face the same traffic mess. Share the pain. This should get action with a quickness

[sahibji]

may i add to the suggestion that the requirements for passing the driving test be made very stringent - drivers must be well versed with the highway code and the correct driving discipline, including parking and defensive driving.

of course their other suggestions are sound in principle.

[sahibji]

7 minutes ago, off road pat said:

Yes,..indeed...we all knew what was going to happen...?!?!?

was it to take the  older cars off the road or just add on.

Edited September 23, 2016 by sahibji

[off road pat]

34 minutes ago, oscar888 said:

Ok, Bangkok is not the only city with to many cars and not enough roads. However, 5 new committees are not the solution for the traffic problems. I am offering my experience for free for the Municipality and police and whoever as an expert for traffic solutions. I need only some documentation about the biggest traffic accidents and than step be step to find solutions to reduce the traffic problems, not for Bangkok ( that's not possible ) but step by step for the most urgent problems. I must see and observe the present situation and than to look for a solution to ease the traffic.

You are far way to smart for these people,.....

On the other hand,?.. 5 committees will each have a budget to spend to whatever they can think of .... ???.....and buy new cars....and some influential people could place family members to have a easy job and a state pension !!!

Edited September 23, 2016 by off road pat

[sahibji]

11 minutes ago, IamNoone88 said:

ROAD PRICING!!!

do you think the man in the street is ready for it.

[steve187]

2 hours ago, HiSoLowSoNoSo said:

Just bulldoze the whole stinking place and use it as a garbage dumping ground and move the city to higher grounds, it will be under sea level in not too many years anyway.

the Thai's can come up with their own stupid ideas, no need to help them out

 

[sahibji]

34 minutes ago, edwinchester said:

"Also to blame, it was agreed, was the rain....."

 

Has anyone else noticed the huge improvement in  Bangkok's traffic congestion every dry season?

Me neither.

rain does slow down the traffic for sure.

[sahibji]

5 hours ago, poostick said:

Aren't they clever 

they are trying. give it a chance. if it works then well and good and if it does not what is the loss?

[off road pat]

29 minutes ago, rickb said:

Why don't they emphasize ride sharing.  When I drive in traffic, almost every car around me has only one person in it.  If three or four people got together to share a ride into Bangkok, that would eliminate a lot of cars each day.  They do this back in the USA and it has worked very well to reduce the number of cars entering big cities.  I also agree with those calling for higher parking fees within the city.  If the BMA makes it very expensive for people to bring their cars into the city, more people will try using the MRT or BTS.  I find it very sad that they spent a fortune to build the new purple line from Bang Yai in Nontaburi and after it opened last month, hardly anybody uses it.  

You are far way to smart for these people,.....in many city's in Europe you can not drive into the city alone, there have to be 3-4 people inside the car,...if not the driver has to pay a fine !!!

On the other hand?.. five (5) committees will each have a budget to spend to whatever they can think of.... ???..... sure will need new cars ?....and some influential people could place family members to have a easy job and a state pension !!!

[sahibji]

5 hours ago, toybits said:

Amazing Thailand.

the traffic quotient does not take away the charm of numerous other attraction available in Thailand.

[sahibji]

1 minute ago, off road pat said:

You are far way to smart for these people,.....in many city's in Europe you can not drive into the city alone, there have to be 3-4 people inside the car,...if not the driver has to pay a fine !!!

On the other hand?.. five (5) committees will each have a budget to spend to whatever they can think of.... ???..... sure will need new cars ?....and some influential people could place family members to have a easy job and a state pension !!!

singapore has tried this but not with glittering success. this system has been given up by them.

[chilli42]

Have these people no shame?  Is it possible that they did not know going public with a conclusion like this makes them out to be complete morons?  Is it not possible in this country to place the blame on what is controllable (lack of planning for roads and infrastructure, public transit, traffic flow planning and control, dillrgent enforcement of regulations etc) instead of things over which there is not controll and ""not my fault" (the weather, incompetence of the RTP, driver attitude).  They need outside expert help to begin to solve the problem.  Their pride and penny pinching mind set will assure this never happens.  This is a doomed undertaking.  One more failed initiative that will further the belief that nobody cares or is running the show.

[DUNROAMIN]

3 hours ago, smedly said:

- forward thinking and city planning, roads that exist are too narrow - fail

- traffic light management - currently lights stay red/green far too long

- provide park and ride services and charge those that insist on using their cars a congestion fee

- no parking clear ways strictly enforced with stiff penalties

- look at the possibility of total one way systems which would limit the need for junctions and traffic lights were major one way routes would just simply merge

 

- bring in foreign experts that know what they are doing to provide advice guidence and training

Your last statement is the only solution, look at all the major players around the world, bring in the transport gurus and tech heads and they will come up with the solutions. Thailand is about 50 years behind in city and urbon transport infrastructure technology.

[off road pat]

14 minutes ago, sahibji said:

was it to take the  older cars off the road or just add on.

It was a huge miscalculation of the previous government,...they taught the people would buy new cars and get rid of the old ones.....they never taught the Thais would just sell the old ones to friends or family members and by such almost doubling the car possessions in Thailand !!!! 555555 way to stupid from the government !!!

but then again? maybe they had a other agenda ?!?!? and made some serious money on the side ? TIT remember....

Edited September 23, 2016 by off road pat

[off road pat]

8 minutes ago, sahibji said:

singapore has tried this but not with glittering success. this system has been given up by them.

I think Singapore has a paired/unpaired driving in the city system ? Paired number plates can drive in on paired days and vice versa with unpaired ?!?!? last time I heard....

[HoboKay]

6 minutes ago, off road pat said:

I think Singapore has a paired/unpaired driving in the city system ? Paired number plates can drive in on paired days and vice versa with unpaired ?!?!? last time I heard....

 

Electronic Road Pricing, no nonsense of paired numbers or archaic systems.

 

You pay for access to most of the expressway network and inner city zones electronically, its a mandatory device installed onto all vehicles in the island state.

 

Authoritarian/totalitarian call it whatever but it works.

Edited September 23, 2016 by HoboKay

[Jonmarleesco]

'Also to blame, it was agreed, was the rain ...'  Good job they don't have to deal with a real winter season, then.

 

'They also agreed that drivers and law enforcement were at the heart of the problem.' And doubtless will remain so.
 
'...  five committees have been set up to look into the problem.' Four to watch over the one?
 
'... fines not paid within 30 days are set to be quadrupled in size.' From B200. Some deterrent.

[Bangkok Barry]

4 hours ago, smedly said:

- forward thinking and city planning, roads that exist are too narrow - fail

- traffic light management - currently lights stay red/green far too long

- provide park and ride services and charge those that insist on using their cars a congestion fee

- no parking clear ways strictly enforced with stiff penalties

- look at the possibility of total one way systems which would limit the need for junctions and traffic lights were major one way routes would just simply merge

 

- bring in foreign experts that know what they are doing to provide advice guidence and training

 

I think they did that a few years ago (from The Netherlands?). The experts made their report and it was dismissed as not suitable. Falan not unnerstan.

 

[jvs]

2 hours ago, Colabamumbai said:

Odd, even license plates drive on different days. Strictly enforced, 10,000 Baht fine, half to the ticketing officer and half to the government.

 

Make car owner wannabees pay $7,000 for a permit that allows them to buy a car, Singapore style.  That would surely cut down on car ownership.

Works in Manila.

[gemguy]

The traffic in Bangkok has always been bad.

30 years ago it was bad and now there are more cars and more roads but never enough road space relative to the amount of cars on the road.....

Hmmm......Same problem as other countries....l

Is that some sort of a coincidence...lol

Meantime, the Auto sector of the Thai economy is a significant factor and revenue earner so they are NOT going to be curbing the sale of cars anytime soon rather want more car sales while Thailand is said ( who said?  ) to now be an automotive/  car manufacturing / assembly Hub.

Also the Thais are really eager to buy a new care ( they are reluctant to buy used cars ) while I suppose a new car for them is like a new car for everyone ...a personal sort of satisfaction letting the world know they have arrived in their car, rather than walk or take a taxi....and poor no longer...lol

Silly thinking in some respects, but  all part of mass consumerism needed to drive the economy.

 

Meantime, I do not drive.......Rather I like to be chauffeured around in Taxi Cab Luxury while I have several new Thai Chauffer's per day drive me around to where ever I ask my Thai Chauffer's to take me.

Yes sir.....Just one of the unique luxuries amongst many luxuries while living here in Bangkok.

Cheers

[wvavin]

Can anyone here point to me which one in this meeting looks intelligent? Greatly appreciated.

[RaoulDuke]

There will never be enough roads to accommodate a city of this size, and every city that tries to keep up fails miserably. There is really only one viable option, which is to greatly expand mass transit (trains, not buses). Tokyo manages their huge population with an expansive transit system that makes owning a car unnecessary. Manila has maybe two lines of trains, which are less than reliable. They keep building roads, and yet the traffic is beyond atrocious 24 hours a day, making it impossible to travel more than a few km's an hour anywhere in the metropolitan area.  Does Bangkok aspire to be more like Tokyo or like Manila?  Another good example is Singapore, which combines an expansive metro with insanely prohibitive vehicle ownership fees, resulting is very light traffic relative to the size and population.  High rates of car ownership is not a symbol of wealth and prosperity, it is an indicator of ignorance and poor planning.

[gregk0543]

It used to be worse. I remember it was a lot worse. The overhead highways helped heaps. But the best thing they have put in is the mass transit systems with all those acronyms MRT, etc.  I used then all recently. Peak hour is really peaked. Expansion of that system would be a winner. 

I lived outside that system so taxi to the station and then go everywhere from it.

 

 

[OneZero]

How about another rebate for first time (ie, just put it in someone else's name) car buyers.

[Benzakonium]

The biggest culprit in my opinion is too many taxis. I am sat in traffic for about 2-3 hours per day on my average commute and wherever I am, with the exception of the tollway, 50% of the other vehicles will be taxis, and of those about 80% will have their available light on. The fact that they stop wherever they feel like and very often don't take passengers simply ads to the nightmare. Cut the taxis by 60-70%, increase road tax and bring in enforceable MOT system like the UK for older cars and the traffic will quickly become bearable.

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, smedly said:

- forward thinking and city planning, roads that exist are too narrow - fail

- traffic light management - currently lights stay red/green far too long

- provide park and ride services and charge those that insist on using their cars a congestion fee

- no parking clear ways strictly enforced with stiff penalties

- look at the possibility of total one way systems which would limit the need for junctions and traffic lights were major one way routes would just simply merge

 

- bring in foreign experts that know what they are doing to provide advice guidence and training

And stop vote buying by offering tax incentives to buy more cars !!

[swerver]

6 hours ago, smedly said:

- forward thinking and city planning, roads that exist are too narrow - fail

- traffic light management - currently lights stay red/green far too long

- provide park and ride services and charge those that insist on using their cars a congestion fee

- no parking clear ways strictly enforced with stiff penalties

- look at the possibility of total one way systems which would limit the need for junctions and traffic lights were major one way routes would just simply merge

 

- bring in foreign experts that know what they are doing to provide advice guidence and training

 

No don't bring in foreign experts.

Just bring in ASEAN experts.

 

Simple isn't it??? In that case the Thais do not want it because there cannot be any graft.

[Redline]

7 hours ago, smedly said:

- forward thinking and city planning, roads that exist are too narrow - fail

- traffic light management - currently lights stay red/green far too long

- provide park and ride services and charge those that insist on using their cars a congestion fee

- no parking clear ways strictly enforced with stiff penalties

- look at the possibility of total one way systems which would limit the need for junctions and traffic lights were major one way routes would just simply merge

 

- bring in foreign experts that know what they are doing to provide advice guidence and training

Fix the deadly U turns as well

[HenryB]

If will outlaw all forms of work in Bangkok people will not need a car to go to work

That is one way

Another way only allow bicycles on all roads from 4 am to 3 am that is 21 hours a day

Glad I can help

 

[Autonuaq]

what do you expect build condominiums and forget the road that is what is happening.

every highrise or other thing like mall is so many cars extra on an area and forget the most important, the transportation and movements.

 

Since biking is becoming a hit in Thailand,  probably they can have a chat with Amsterdam and Rotterdam most people have no car anymore because it is useless in the city.