Bangkok changing 269 bus route numbers

[reader]

From Coconuts Bangkok

 

Bangkok has planned to adjust and change the numbers on 269 of its bus routes to correspond to new train stations in the future.

 

This month, eight bus routes have started using their new numbers as a trial, to make sure citizens are prepared for the change. The buses must have clear signs stating where they stop, reported PPTV.

 

All of the new numbers will have one or two English letters in them to designate the zones in the city and help tourists. For example, Bus 555, which runs to Suvarnabhumi Airport, will be changed to B53E.

 

Wait, is this supposed to be easier for us to remember, right?

 

While it hasn’t been revealed what each English letter stands for, Thai netizens are already moaning about them, as many locals cannot read English.

 

“Are the English letters necessary? Do we need to know which bus runs in which zone?” a Facebook user commented.

 

“I think it’s better to just have numbers. Some Thais don’t know English, but I agree with adjusting the routes to serve the future BTS stations,” another user said.

 

“The old people who don’t read English are doomed. What are they gonna do? Meanwhile, Thai education is not developing,” said a very realistic netizen.

 

Rotmaethai, a Facebook page that informs the public of news about buses, has published the new numbers for the 269 routes. It has not been reported when the city will implement the changes.

 

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/erase-memory-bangkok-change-numbers-269-bus-routes/

[spoon]

Couldnt the thai just asked the bus driver or other people around for their buses? On the other hand, farang will have a harder time asking their buses if there is no english speaking thai in the bus. But then again, farang rarely took the bus too lol. I contemplated taking the bus few times but what really gets me is not the route it self but which direction is the bus going within the route. Itll take a bit of guessing to know if the bus is let says on the route from hua lamphong to mochit or actually from mochit to hua lamphong if you want to take the bust somewhere in the middle of the route. Some places have bus number indicates the direction as well.

[Guest]

The complaints about the letters issue is complete nonsense.   

There are only 26 of them in the alphabet.     If the suffices are N, S, E & W, then they only need 4 letters to work that out.   I'm not sure how many letters are used for the first digit, but I'll bet it is not all 26 and it's not like Bangkok residents travel on every single bus route in the city.   They probably need to only learn a handful.    

Anyhow, given the widespread use of Roman characters for branding, the vast majority of the Bangkok population will have some knowledge of the Roman characters in any case.   For the rest, I bet they can print a nice little leaflet explaining it all.

 

Compare with, say Japan, where there are 2 alphabets with 46 characters and a third with probably a few thousand.   Yet I still managed to navigate myself on multiple bus trips, without any Roman characters on display.  

[vinapu]

I'm using buses in BKK aided by excellent Bangkok Bus Guide Map and one of my favorite pastimes when travelling everywhere is to actually board random bus and just go wherever bus is going.

 

For average 2-3 weeks  tourist Bangkok buses are of limited use due to traffic and abundance of cheap taxis with A/C so problem above is rather concern for local population to solve and very little nuisance for most of us other than need to buy new improved formula map

[spoon]

one of my favorite pastimes when travelling everywhere is to actually board random bus and just go wherever bus is going.

I do this as well!! Havent done it with bangkok bus though, but i did it with the chao phraya taxi boat. I dont usually do random buses though, but i'll try my best to at least use multiple mode of public transportation when i am travelling, especially solo. I did use buses in hong kong quite extensively. Ill definitely will consider bkk buses after this.

[reader]

Trial run for buses on eight new routes in Bangkok

Breaking News August 09, 2017 19:47

By The Nation

Newly painted buses will go on trial on eight new routes in Greater Bangkok from next Tuesday.

They will be displaying a new numbering system too, including at least one English-language character. 

 

The new routes are: G21 (Rangsit - Rama V Pier), G59E (Min Buri - Si Phraya Pier via expressway), R3 (Rama IX Park - National Stadium), R41 (Tok Road - Happyland), Y59 (Taling Chan Train Station - Krathum Ban), Y61 (Settakij Village - Chatuchak Bus Terminal), B44 (Rama IX - Suttisarn) and B45 (Ua Arthon Beung Kum - Memorial Bridge).

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30323360

 

[vinapu]

Few years ago I visited Ukrainian city of Lviv and I was shown passing tramway / streetcar for North Americans/ number if I recall 2.

 

I was told that this line started  at end of XIX century when city belonged to Austria. Then it become part of Poland, was occupied by Soviets and Germans in II WW, then it become part of USSR and subsequently of Ukraine and throughout all that route and number  is unchanged. Speaking about stability of city transit

[ChristianPFC]

I'm just back from Myanmar, where number plates on cars have only English characters and Arabic numbers, and bus lines are mainly in Burmese numbers! But asking locals, I got the right bus.

 

Couldnt the thai just asked the bus driver or other people around for their buses?

 

Itll take a bit of guessing to know if the bus is let says on the route from hua lamphong to mochit or actually from mochit to hua lamphong if you want to take the bust somewhere in the middle of the route. Some places have bus number indicates the direction as well.

 

Most buses have destinations, and stops in between, written in Thai on the side, and some in English as well.

 

In 98% of cases it is pretty straighforward where the bus is going. Hua Lampong to Morchit would be northwards, board on the left side of the road. Morchit to Hua Lamphong is southwards, board on the right side of the road. Most bus stops even have arrows "inbound" and "outbound".

 

It happened only twice to me that I took bus in wrong direction: once because I forgot that traffic in Thailand is on the opposite side of the road than continental Europe, and once on Ngam Wong Wan road where a bus that goes overall from N to S has a stretch where it is E to W.

[spoon]

Yup, if u roughly know the location of your destination on the map, its easier to know which sides of the road to take the bus. Dunno about bkk, but in some cities, there are circular routes buses to add to the confusion and in some cases, u need to change buses midway to go to your destination. A buses route map is definitely a good thing to have, but an app wouldve been better. A quick google usually does the trick for famous tourists places though.

[vinapu]

I'm just back from Myanmar,

then we are waiting for your trip report to be posted in your blog

[ChristianPFC]

I knew that was coming!

[vinapu]

no pressure , take your time

[reader]

From Bangkok Post

 

Running on empty: A day adventure on the new bus routes
 

When the blue B44 bus finally arrived at the stop after a 90-minute wait, no one moved. Although a line of people waited by the sign, none of the would-be-passengers hopped on the vehicle.

 

The B44 bus -- or the original No.54 -- runs one of eight pilot routes, set for a one-month test-run as part of a future bus route reform that began Aug 14. Five non-air-conditioned vehicles were sent on each route in addition to the normal buses.

 

"We ran this route four times already today and had less than 100 passengers altogether," the conductor said as we were riding towards Rama IX. People still don't understand how it works and don't dare to use it, he said.

 

But the Department of Land Transport's (DLT) bewildering system of new names, featuring English letters, colour-codes -- green, blue, yellow and red, one for each of the capital's operation zones -- and and routes were met with disinterest at best, and with irritation and complaints in many cases.
 

Some people appear pleased with the routes, although the majority are confused and angered by the lack of information provided by the DLT, he said.
 

A regular bus rider, Phong observed that the new routes aim to reduce redundancy between existing bus lines but retain the buses' function as a feeder system to railway transportation lines. In short,...
 

 

 

http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/11255-bangkok-changing-269-bus-route-numbers/

 

-----------------------

 

Bus conductors face early retirement

The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) is introducing a two-billion-baht early retirement scheme targeting 2,000 bus conductors by 2019, says BMTA deputy director Yuk Charupum.

 

Now serving as BMTA acting director, Mr Yuk said the early retirement package aims to hand out one million baht to each bus conductor entering the programme, as the agency soon plans to install automated common ticketing systems in buses, making conductors redundant.

 

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1314643/bus-conductors-face-early-retirement