Rail Project Offers Way to Bypass Bangkok’s Traffic Jams

When Bangkok’s snazzy electric Skytrain pulled into the station in October on its first test run, a marching band and a host of dignitaries were on hand to greet it.

No wonder. The elevated train is part of the Thai capital’s first rapid transit rail service. And though it won’t come on line until late next year, just the sight of the sleek cars speeding at 50 mph above the gridlocked streets was enough to make many of Bangkok’s 10 million residents blink in disbelief.

For a generation, Bangkok has had no more enduring symbol than its round-the-clock traffic jams. They have forced many local businesspeople to turn their cars into offices equipped with phones and faxes and have led some foreign companies to abandon Bangkok for more manageable Asian cities. The lost business revenue, not to mention pollution-related health woes, cost Bangkok dearly.

Now the agency that oversees Thailand’s roads has some good news: Congestion is easing because of long-overdue urban planning and Asia’s economic crisis.

“It’s late in the night for Bangkok to be dealing with traffic, but not too late,” said Yongyuth Sarasombath, secretary-general of Thailand’s Commission for Management of Land Traffic. “Traffic is finally moving better, and the problem is solvable if we can complete the rapid transit services we’ve got in the works.”

The economic crisis has helped unclog streets because it has forced many Thais to readjust their lifestyles. They are driving less and buying fewer cars. In 1996, 732 new vehicles a day were being registered in Bangkok. In June, with the city in the grip of recession, the number had fallen to 242 a day.

At the same time, ambitious new plans to clear the streets are coming on line. Two new expressway links totaling 15 miles recently opened, bringing the number of tollway miles crisscrossing Bangkok to 55. The 18-mile trip from the airport to downtown averaged about 90 minutes a few years ago; now it takes 30.

More than 60 miles of a heavy-rail system, some of it underground, are under construction as part of a 25-year project, and the $1.45-billion light-rail system will be able to carry 1,000 passengers per Skytrain through the heart of downtown when it opens next year. Thailand drastically cut spending during the economic meltdown that began in mid-1997, but it has continued to fund its transportation projects.

Yongyuth said that, although 62% of Bangkok’s commuters still spend at least two hours a day traveling--and 16% spend three hours or more--vehicles now average 19 mph on city roads; six years ago the average was 12 mph.

For Bangkok’s beleaguered residents, and for others in Southeast Asia’s sprawling metropolises, traffic congestion is a price of prosperity. Transportation infrastructure did not keep up with rapid growth and burgeoning populations. France, for example, has 10 miles of road for every 1,000 people; the similar-sized Thailand has 1.4 miles.

Bangkok is not the only regional city to finally hear alarm bells. Jakarta in Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Manila are building light-rail systems and spending heavily on transport infrastructure. Singapore has Southeast Asia’s only rapid rail system. It is efficient and profitable, carrying 1 million passengers a day.

Yet for many in Asia, an automobile is a symbol of having achieved middle- or upper-class status, and driving is an expression of financial independence. Cars in Bangkok carry an average of only 1.7 people each. Rather than using school buses, the majority of the city’s financially successful parents drive their children to and from classes.

A few years ago, Yongyuth came up with what he thought was a bright plan to lessen traffic: If, for instance, your license plate ended with a nine, you could not drive in Bangkok on the 9th, 19th and 29th of the month. At most, the idea would have kept some drivers off the streets only four times a month.

“My idea didn’t fly at all,” said Yongyuth, citing a counter-argument that would seem natural in Los Angeles. “Thais like to drive freely. They don’t want the government telling them what they can do with their cars. Cars are part of their lifestyle.”