[sustran] fwd: Phnom Penh to get buses

[Paul Barter]

Straits Times interactive
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/storyprintfriendly/0,1887,33544,00.html?
Mar 31, 2001 

Phnom Penh's chaotic roads

The government plans to get people to use buses to reduce congestion, crack
down on illegal drivers and launch a safety education campaign 

PHNOM PENH - The government hopes to transform Phnom Penh's century-old
roads, among some of the most dangerous and chaotic in Asia, by educating
residents, cracking down on illegal drivers and introducing public buses.

The Cambodian capital's crumbling streets teem with left and right-hand
drive vehicles, mopeds, big motorcycles, rickshaws, pedestrians - and the
occasional ox cart, horse-drawn carriage and three-wheeled buggy.

Traffic laws are almost non-existent, seat belts are almost never used, and
mopeds often carry five or six people, as well as bundles, baskets and even
livestock.

Government officials hope to improve the city's wide, potholed avenues -
laid down by French colonists over a century ago - and get travellers to use
public buses instead of their own transport.

Phnom Penh Governor Chea Sophara said: 'When we have buses, the traffic will
be more organised.

'Travellers will wait for the bus to come and carry them away, and they
won't have to use motorbikes to go everywhere.'

According to his legal adviser Chhorn Sopheap, traffic accidents in Phnom
Penh increased more than 33 per cent last year, mostly due to unlicensed and
under-age drivers, and speeding.

On Jan 1, Cambodia outlawed right-hand drive vehicles, most of them imported
illegally from neighbouring Thailand, though little enforcement is yet
evident.

Officials have also launched a nationwide education campaign on traffic laws
and the risk of accidents using televison and radio, as well as stickers
distributed at schools and on the streets.

But cooperation is not always forthcoming.

The city's traffic police chief El Samneang said people often ignored his
officers and volunteers.

He added: 'I am hurt when we are handing out the stickers because some
people on the street ignored us.

'Police alone cannot do the job. We need participation from the people.'.

Volunteers are also helping officials repair several of the capital's
pothole-riddled avenues and side streets to encourage rickshaws and
motorbikes to use them instead of main avenues.

Twenty 60-seat buses will begin transporting city-dwellers in June for the
cut-price, one-way fare of 500 riel (13 Singapore cents). --Reuters 

Copyright © 2001 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved. 
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Forwarded for purposes of education and research....