Bangkok traffic: Solving the city's traffic congestion problem

Efforts underway to make Bangkok traffic move more quickly including ambulance lanes to save lives. Section 44 option remains if current measures fail.

ROAD SAFETY & TRAFFIC

Bangkok traffic: Solving the city's traffic congestion problem

27/09/2016
Post Reporters

Transport agencies have been racing to address Bangkok's traffic gridlock problems after Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon gave them one month to solve the city's traffic congestion problems.

Improvements have been made on several routes of the 21 targeted Bangkok roads in the last 10 days.

Average traffic speed has increased slightly, according to the national police chief.

The police chief said authorities began removing median strips on certain roads to create more space for cars, which eased traffic bottlenecks as expected.

Authorities plan to remove a total of 21 median strips.

STRICT TRAFFIC LAW & PARKING ENFORCEMENT

Pol Gen Chakthip said traffic regulations also are being enforced strictly, with more than 5,000 traffic tickets issued during the past 10 days to motorists who violated traffic rules.

A proposal has also been raised to require people who fail to pay traffic tickets within one month of committing the offence to pay four times the penalty or have their driving licences suspended, although this was previously rejected by the council of state (see here).

Parking in prohibited areas was a top priority as it contributed a great deal to traffic congestion.

He urged motorists to call 1197, 1159 or 191 around the clock to report traffic problems.

DEALING WITH FLOODED ROADS

He also said police were also working closely with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to ease flooding on Bangkok roads.

City workers would ensure the drainage system was not clogged up and police would be deployed to manage traffic at flood prone spots.

Use of Section 44 to increase penalties for traffic offenders might be necessary if current measures fail to tackle chronic traffic congestion in Bangkok, says national police chief Chakthip Chaijinda.

AMBULANCE RIGHT OF WAY

Thailand's first emergency lane for ambulances delivering emergency patients to hospitals begins operation today.

This first emergency lane extends from Din Daeng Junction, past Victory Monument to Rajavithi hospital.

The move is step towards giving ambulances the right of way on roads, requiring other vehicles to move out of the way and let the ambulance deliver patients to the hospital quickly. Not to do so would be a violation of the law for which a vehicle could receive a hefty ticket and fine.

The new emergency lane is 2-kilometers and has broken red lines on either side rather than the usual white and a red circle with a red cross in it and will allow ambulances to travel the critical distance to the hospital in only 8 minutes, thus saving lives and enabling quicker response in emergency treatment.
 
At first, the lane will work with voluntary cooperation by drivers allowing ambulances to pass. Later, emergency lane laws may be enforced. If the ambulance lane is successful, lanes to other hospitals in the Victory Monument area may be opened.

BRAINSTORMING BANGKOK TRAFFIC SOLUTIONS

Various measures have been proposed to tackle the chronic traffic congestion.

The Thailand Research Fund conducted a two-year study on traffic - related issues which offered several useful proposals to ease traffic problems, though they have not yet been put into action.

One proposal calls for the establishment of a traffic court to enforce stricter compliance with traffic laws, while other proposed measures ask that police and City Hall work together to regulate street vendors, improve traffic light systems and provide parking space around skytrain and subway stations.

Short-term measures include strict enforcement of traffic laws to prevent motorists from parking in prohibited areas and running red lights, while increasing bus lanes on major streets.

Supatra Phanwichit, a researcher on a project to set up a traffic court in Bangkok, revealed a large number of traffic tickets have remained unpaid by traffic law violators, and police had made no serious efforts to follow up on those who refused to pay the fines which has resulted in them breaking traffic laws persistently.

She proposed that a division to handle traffic cases be established in each municipal court. Under the proposal, traffic police must send traffic tickets that remain unpaid to prosecutors who will then forward them to the court within 48 hours from the day the fine payment was due.

Those who are issued with the tickets must show up in court and pay the fine within seven days or the court will suspend or revoke their driving licence and issue a summons for them.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/1092481/agencies-brainstorm-a-traffic-fix

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/emergency-lane-ambulances-now-opens/

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1095737/traffic-fines-likely-to-get-s44-makeover

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