[sustran] [NewMobilityCafe] Re: Pricing public transit: learning from Bangkok

[Lee Schipper]

My daughter lives near the Skytrain, which makes her apartment very
accessible.. but others laughed and said "the Skytrain is for tourists
and students". Whatever, it works for journeys along the corridor. Her
building sends a shuttle, actually a small golf cart, to pick up
visitors and residents for the last 750 meters.

When moving there from a nearby hotel ona Saturday afternoon with
baggage I made a mistake and took a cab. Took 50 minutes because of
horrible traffic and one way streets. Skytrain would have taken 10 mins
walk plus 4 minute ride. But I would have had to haul my bags up three
stories of stairs because the sky train stop near my hotel did not have
a lift or escalator, at least not one I could find.

As for the metro, I'm told Thais do not like to ride underground, pure
and simple.

The real issue is in Yasmin's cost figures --- How much money would it
cost to put in enough Skytrain and other rail lines to blanket the city?
And what good would it do without real restraints on individual vehicle
use -- widescale congestion pricing etc.

Lee Schipper
EMBARQ Fellow
EMBARQ the WRI Center for  Sustainable Transport
www.embarq.wri.org

and

Visiting Scholar,
Univ of Calif Transport Center
Berkeley CA
www.uctc.net
skype: mrmeter
510 642 6889
202 262 7476


-----Original Message-----
From: sustran-discuss-bounces+schipper=wri.org at list.jca.apc.org
[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+schipper=wri.org at list.jca.apc.org] On
Behalf Of eric.britton
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 8:08 AM
To: Sustran Resource Centre; NewMobilityCafe at yahoogroups.com
Cc: shovan1209 at yahoo.com; gerardn at rhd.gov.bd
Subject: [sustran] Pricing public transit: learning from Bangkok

From: Saiful Alam [mailto:shovan1209 at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Thursday, 14 February 2008 15:03



 

Pricing public transit:  learning from Bangkok

Yasmin Chowdhury

When I first visited Bangkok in 1994, I got around the city mostly by
bus.
The buses were slow, the streets congested, and I soon learned that I
could
only make one plan for the morning and one for the afternoon, as it
might
take a couple hours to move about.

Then the city started to build their skytrain.  I waited with great
anticipation for its completion.  It seemed to require a lot more time
and a
lot more money (OK, just two years of delay and three times over budget)
than originally anticipated, and the fares are admittedly quite high,
but it
was finally built-if never finished.  (I saw an article in a Thai
newspaper
about people very upset that the planned line to their area had never
been
built; meanwhile, the pilings leading to the now domestic-only airport
have
been converted into advertising posts.)

To be quite honest, I love the skytrain.  Sure, the cement structure
looming
overhead is ugly.  Sure, most of the stations lack escalators, making
them
inaccessible to those in wheelchairs, and exceedingly difficult for
those
lugging heavy bags or luggage.  Sure, the two lines only cover a very
limited portion of Bangkok.  Sure, it's expensive.  Sure, despite all
the
hassles, the trains are often packed.  Sure, the stations are congested
and
I sometimes have to push through people to reach my train.  But at least
I
can see a little of the city while I travel, and I can now get around to
the
stops on the line quickly, allowing myself to visit far more places in a
day.

Though the skytrain certainly makes moving around the city much easier
(if
you can afford it), it obviously didn't alleviate the congestion, as the
government then opened a very limited subway system.  The first time I
tried
to ride it, about a year after it opened, it was closed for two weeks
due to
an accident.  I finally rode it a couple years after that, and
discovered
that it cost about US$0.50 to ride what it would take me ten minutes to
walk.  That seemed outrageous, and I don't love riding up and down long
escalators and traveling in tunnels.  Since the Metro doesn't seem to go
much beyond the skytrain, I stick to the skytrain.

But now, after spending billions of dollars on those mass transit
systems,
and despite having an existing extensive bus system, and more roads than
most Asian cities of their level of economic development, the government
is
now planning bus rapid transit-a bit like a street-level trolley, but
with
buses instead of trams.  Of course, that too is delayed-but the cost is
a
fraction of that for the skytrain and Metro.

A more careful look at those costs reveals something interesting and of
considerable relevance as Dhaka plans its public transit system.
According
to various Web sites, the skytrain, which opened in 1999, cost about
US$1.5
billion for 24 kilometers.  That amounts to US$62.5 million per
kilometer.
Of course, things were cheaper back then.  

Construction of the Metro began back in 1996, but it wasn't finished
until
2004.  According to Wikipedia, "The project suffered multiple delays not
only because of the 1997 economic crisis, but also due to challenging
civil
engineering works of constructing massive underground structures deep in
the
water-logged soil upon which the city is built."  Interesting.
Fortunately
we don't have those troubles in Dhaka (ahem!).

As for cost, the Metro cost a mere US$ 2.75 billion for 21 km, or
US$130.95
million per kilometer-just over twice that of the skytrain.  Apparently
burrowing underground, dealing with flooding issues, providing
ventilation,
and so on is much more expensive than building above our heads.
Meanwhile,
again quoting Wikipedia, "ridership has settled down to around 180,000
riders daily - considerably lower than projections of over 400,000,
despite
fares being slashed in half from 12-38 baht to 10-15 baht per trip. As
of
2006, fares range between 14-36 baht per trip."  With an exchange rate
as I
write of 32 baht to one US dollar, that's a mighty high fare.  Good
thing
Bangladeshis are wealthier than Thais (??).

Meanwhile, the anticipated cost for the BRT is 33.4 million for 36
kilometers.  Admittedly, anticipated costs are often far less than
actual
costs, but still, at US$0.93 million per kilometer, that's a bargain
compared to the Metro or the skytrain-even more so when considering it's
being built last, when prices are highest.  At 67 times less than the
skytrain and 141 times less than the Metro, even with significant cost
increases, it will still be far more affordable than its public transit
predecessors.

Of course, operational costs are another issue.  Buses require fuel,
trains
electricity.  Buses tend to require more maintenance, tires wear down
frequently, and buses have to be replaced far more often than trains.
While
it is cheaper to build a BRT system initially, the higher operational
costs
might mean that, in the long term, a tram system would be more
affordable-tram meaning street-level light rail, not something up in the
sky
or underground, which greatly multiplies the costs.

Which is all to say, I'm all for public transit.  So, apparently, are
Thais:
last I checked, hotels and housing advertise their proximity to the
various
public transit options.  Apparently people are sick and tired of sitting
in
cars stuck in traffic jams.  In public transit, you can sit back and
read a
book while you ride, look out the window (preferably not at tunnels),
eavesdrop on your neighbor's conversation, and otherwise amuse yourself
without risking crashing into someone once the traffic moves again.

But when considering spending millions or billions on public transit, it
would make sense to invest it wisely, in a system that will be the most
extensive and least expensive, and thus offer the best value for the
money.
At 141 times per kilometer less to build BRT than Metro, we could both
have
a far more extensive system, meeting far more people's needs, and lower
fares.  Sounds like a bargain to me!

 



Syed Siful Alam Shovan 
shovan1209 at yahoo.com 

  

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