Yangon has too many bus routes and the network must be reformed, according to Hla Aung, chairman of All Bus Lines Control Committee, on June 8.
Around 357 bus lines are currently running in the city and Phyo Min Thein, Yangon region chief minister, said on May 22 that he wanted the number reduced.
Hla Aung said good management was needed and the committee would push for reform with government approval.
“A total of 357 bus lines are running in Yangon. For instance, the 48 bus is running five or six lines and the 124 is running two or three lines. We have to make a survey of the number of passengers who are using the Pyay Road, the length of the routes and the number of buses. We know that about 50 bus lines are currently running on the Pyay Road. We can reduce them to a single bus line. The analysts will calculate the number of commuters in office hours for round trips and the number of buses which need the route,” he said.
“We will do it if the regional government wants to reduce the number of bus lines. However, we cannot do it right now,” said Hla Aung.
“The committee stopped meeting in March as the new government was taking over. The meetings have not restarted yet,” he said.
The bus committee for central Yangon suggested that three bus lines could ease traffic jams in six downtown townships, said Min Zaw, vice chairman of the committee.
Bus drivers are accused of increasing congestion by not obeying the rules of the road.
Source: Eleven Myanmar
