BMTA to procure over 2,000 electric buses in next five years to cut maintenance costs
Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) plans to procure 2,013 more electric buses within three to five years under a budget of around 5.5 billion baht, deputy transport minister Manaporn Charoensri said on Friday.
The plan aims to reduce the authority’s financial cost by at least 60% from the current 12.5 billion baht per year, most of which are attributed to maintenance and fuel costs of 2,885 public buses.
Last year the BMTA reported 7.8 billion baht revenue, leaving it 4.7 billion baht in deficit.
Manaporn said electric buses have significantly lower maintenance and fuel expenses compared to internal combustion engine vehicles, besides also being environmentally friendly, which would help the city combat the PM2.5 air pollution problem.
PM2.5 refers to dust particles 2.5 micrometres or smaller in diameter and can be easily inhaled. Long-term exposure to such fine particles has been linked to many chronic diseases, including acute lung and heart problems. Traffic emissions are one of the main sources of the PM2.5 fine dust.
Manaporn outlined the three-to-five-year plan in three phases. The first phase will introduce 224 new electric buses costing 341 million baht. A total of 1,020 new buses will be procured in the second phase for 1.94 billion baht. In the final phase, the last batch of 769 electric buses will be procured at 3.2 billion baht.
Some of the procured buses will be taken on lease, instead of purchasing them, to eliminate the burden of maintenance cost for the BMTA, he added.
The BMTA will finish drafting the plan in six months, in time to present it to the new BMTA board, which is currently being formed, said Manaporn.
