The First of the BTS Shuttle Bus Launched
On 17th March 2020, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) launched the first of the three pilot BTS shuttle bus services, with plans to introduce seven more following the success of the initial three.
The launch of the first route will operate under the BMA Feeder project and was officiated by Aswin Kwanmuang, who has been serving as the governor of Bangkok from 2016. The first of the three will be travelling a 26.5-kilometre route that links the New Southern Bus Terminal to the BTS Skytrain’s Bang Wa Station. The trip takes roughly between 20 and 30 minutes, with a bus leaving in 15-minute intervals during rush hour and in 30-minute intervals during off-peak hours.
The remaining two routes, a 17.5-kilometre link between the Kheha Rom Klao and the Airport Rail Link, and a 11.7-kilometre link between Bangkok City Hall 2 and BTS Sanam Pao, will begin operation on 24 March and the week after 31 March, respectively.
A smartphone application, Viabus, has also been released to the public to allow passengers to receive real-time updates on the GPS locations of nearby shuttle buses. There will be no fee incurred for the service of the three pilot routes in the first six months of operation as this will serve as more of a trial period to gauge the public consensus. This will then be taken into account for the decision on whether to proceed with the launch of the remaining seven shuttle bus services. The proposed routes for the remaining seven will include a link between Siam Square and Sanam Luang, and another link between Thong Lor and Ekkamai.
