PUBLISHED: 13 Nov 2024 at 04: 55
The Transportation Ministry intends to collect visitors congestion fees in Bangkok’s interior areas using the so-called” London Model.”
Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, who also serves as a deputy prime minister, announced on Tuesday that he had instructed the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy ( OTP ) to conduct thorough analysis of the results of successful operations in England, Singapore, Stockholm, Sweden, and Italy.
” We expect that research will be completed within six weeks, or in 2025. In addition, new laws may need to be drafted, as under the current law, the government has no authority to collect congestion fees, which is the authority of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration ( BMA )”, he said.
He claimed that 60 % of respondents to a preliminary study about the congestion charge initially agreed, but that the number of those who disagreed with the project eventually increased. Lack of project facts was the primary cause of the delay. In this way, Mr. Suriya said, the data needs to be made available to the public right away, particularly regarding who will be charged and where.
He confirmed that those who reside in the designated places where costs are collected would not be free. The Ministry of Finance may run the system finance, which will receive the proceeds from the charge collection. The funds will be used to fund government policies that mandate 20-baht tickets for all electronic train routes and to pay back concessions for electric train lines.
According to government spokeswoman Kritchanon Aiyapanya, the London Model may be applied to Thailand. The research has been supported by the UK PACT initiative, which supports UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions.
Toll collection in London’s city center, which covers a area of 21 square kilometers, is done using the Automatic Number Plate Recognition ( ANPR ) camera system. Except on holidays and on Monday through Friday from 7am to 6pm, and on Saturday from 12 noon to 6pm, the price is collected. The fee is 15 pounds per day ( about 658 baht ).
According to Mr. Kritchanon, gridlock has since decreased by 16 %.