BMTA NGV Bus Plan

[GWR]

Cabinet to review NGV bus rental project again

The Cabinet meeting today (July, 22nd) will review a project to rent 6,000 natural gas vehicle (NGV) buses again. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives will request the Cabinet meeting to set the energy crop strategy as a national agenda.

The Cabinet meeting today will be presided over by Prime Minister and Defence Minister Samak Sundaravej. The important agendas of the meeting include the Ministry of Transport’s proposal of the revised NGV bus rental project and the Agriculture and Cooperatives’ request for the Cabinet’s approval to set the energy crop strategy as a national agenda after gasohol E85 was declared as one.

Meanwhile, the National Council on Social Welfare of Thailand sets up a booth to sell artificial jasmine flowers to the premier and the Cabinet members before the meeting starts.
http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews.php?news_id=255107220005

Presumably for Mother's Day?

[GWR]

The Cabinet rejects lease of NGV buses
By The Nation

The Cabinet on Tuesday rejected the Transport Ministry's project to lease 6,000 NGV buses proposed by the Transport ministry.

The Cabinet assigned the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) to do feasibility study before re-submitting the project for Cabinet's approval, said Transport deputy minister Anurak Jureemas.

The project has been rejected several times, due to concerns in the transparency of the bidding as well as the high leasing costs.

..........

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/07/22/business/business_30078706.php

[GWR]

Panel prunes number of new NGV buses
By THE NATION
Published on August 21, 2008

The screening committee studying the procurement of 6,000 new NGV buses has agreed to reduce the number to 4,000 and will forward the resolution to the Cabinet in the next two weeks.

Akaphol Sorasuchart, secretary to Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachorn-prasart who chaired the screening committee, said after the committee meeting that the electronic ticketing system would reduce the budget for leasing NGV buses by 30 per cent from Bt110 billion to Bt67 billion. If the 4,000 NGV buses were not enough to serve passengers, 1,700 existing buses owned by the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) would be improved to NGV buses, he added.

The screening committee will forward its notice on leasing NGV buses to the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) to determine the positive and negative points as well as the strengths of each choice before proposing it to the Cabinet on September 2.

The Cabinet has delayed the project several times due to concerns about the transparency of the bidding as well as the high leasing costs. However, the Cabinet set up the screening committee to consider the matter before resubmitting the project for approval.

The BMTA had hoped to win government approval because it has suffered losses of Bt6 billion a year and the NGV-bus project would improve the organisation's financial position. The NGV buses would also contribute profits to the agency, allowing it to repay accumulated debts of about Bt74 billion within 10 years.

Under the project, the buses will encourage passengers to use the BMTA service because the buses are new and the fares are set at only Bt15 a trip, or Bt30 throughout a day.

..........
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/08/21/business/business_30081065.php

[Yappofloyd]

I still cannot understand this leasing strategy and it seems very suspect (another major money pot for decision makers?) given that BMTA is paying so much money not to even own the buses. Modernisation and fleet renewal is well overdue and even though the contract come with depot management and fleet maintainence, surely it would be a better investment to buy a new (smaller) fleet for the same cost?:confused:

CITY TRANSPORT Bus leasing plan approved ANUCHA CHAROENPO Bkk Post 03/09/08
The cabinet yesterday approved the controversial project to lease 4,000 NGV air-conditioned buses to replace old buses at the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA). Deputy government spokeswoman Veerinthira Nathongborjarat said the new NGV buses, equipped with e-ticket and GPRS systems, will serve 145 routes in Bangkok and surrounding provinces.

The project was proposed to the cabinet by Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Khachornprasart, who was appointed by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to oversee the scheme. The BMTA originally planned to lease 6,000 NGV air-conditioned buses with a budget of 111 billion baht, but the Samak administration delayed its decision in order to defuse a threat by the opposition to attack the Transport Ministry on the issue during the previous censure debate.

Ms Veerinthira said Maj-Gen Sanan had proposed to reduce the number of buses to help cut budget costs by 49 billion baht, and the cabinet agreed. She said an evaluation will be conducted over the next three years to see if the number of buses will be enough to serve the public. Mr Samak had earlier claimed the project would help ease the BMTA's accumulated debt of six billion baht. He expected the project to generate about 4.8 billion baht profit for the agency over the next 10 years.

[Wisarut]

I still cannot understand this leasing strategy and it seems very suspect (another major money pot for decision makers?) given that BMTA is paying so much money not to even own the buses. Modernisation and fleet renewal is well overdue and even though the contract come with depot management and fleet maintainence, surely it would be a better investment to buy a new (smaller) fleet for the same cost?:confused:

CITY TRANSPORT Bus leasing plan approved ANUCHA CHAROENPO Bkk Post 03/09/08
The cabinet yesterday approved the controversial project to lease 4,000 NGV air-conditioned buses to replace old buses at the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA). Deputy government spokeswoman Veerinthira Nathongborjarat said the new NGV buses, equipped with e-ticket and GPRS systems, will serve 145 routes in Bangkok and surrounding provinces.

The project was proposed to the cabinet by Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Khachornprasart, who was appointed by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to oversee the scheme. The BMTA originally planned to lease 6,000 NGV air-conditioned buses with a budget of 111 billion baht, but the Samak administration delayed its decision in order to defuse a threat by the opposition to attack the Transport Ministry on the issue during the previous censure debate.

Ms Veerinthira said Maj-Gen Sanan had proposed to reduce the number of buses to help cut budget costs by 49 billion baht, and the cabinet agreed. She said an evaluation will be conducted over the next three years to see if the number of buses will be enough to serve the public. Mr Samak had earlier claimed the project would help ease the BMTA's accumulated debt of six billion baht. He expected the project to generate about 4.8 billion baht profit for the agency over the next 10 years.


The bottom line of this scheme is to extract the commission fees from the importers and distributors ... which cannot be gotten if all 6000 BMTA bus have been refurbished ... or locally assembled ....

[Wisarut]

Now, the Associaltion of Private bus Operators told the press that htere are lots of irregularities of 4000 imported NGV bus project along with 1800 bus renovating proj3ct to turn the deisel engines into NGV ... and they are goign to sumbit the plea to Office of Auditor General for thsi matter.

http://www.manager.co.th/Home/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9510000107255

[Yappofloyd]

Maybe not so much of the bus content will be imported.

Ratchaburi bus builders seek work - Cluster wants role making NGV units by SANTAN SANTIVIMOLNAT Bkk Post 17/09/08
Bus body builders in Ratchaburi are lobbying to have Bangkok's new fleet of natural gas powered buses built locally to support the industry and its related businesses. Pichade Charoenkit, vice-president of the 50-member Baan Pong Bus Body Industry Cluster, said assemblers in Baan Pong met last Saturday to draft a proposal to submit to the government soon.

He said the group aimed to work with foreign bus and truck manufacturers to import chassis with engines, as the cluster lacks the technology for producing bus engines and suspension systems, limiting its production to body assembly. ''We will convince the government when meeting the authorities to give us the jobs,'' Mr Pichade said of the government's plan to lease vehicles for the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA).

He argued that this would not only support the local bus body industry. Assembly jobs would also provide other job opportunities and promote upstream industrial production of steel and of auto parts such as auto glass, fabric and leather. He said the country would lose substantial foreign exchange, would receive no taxes and would create no employment if the fully built buses were imported.

Mr Pichade said local bus body builders could assemble all the buses required by the government within six months. However, he added that if the government felt the bus body builders could not meet its timeframe, they should be commissioned to build at least half the buses required.

He also claimed that the cost of buses built locally would meet the budget set by the government. The former Samak Sundaravej government recently approved a controversial project to lease 4,000 natural gas, or NGV, air-conditioned buses to replace the BMTA's older buses. The government originally planned to lease 6,000 buses worth 111 billion baht. It revised this to 4,000 after strong opposition from the Democrat Party and the People's Alliance for Democracy, and allegations of receiving kickbacks from the lease.

According to the Baan Pong cluster, recent years have seen an influx of buses imported from China, with Chinese NGV buses finding a big market opportunity in Thailand. Mr Pichade suggested Thai manufacturers should tackle this by playing to their strengths _ product design and quality _ as well as by focusing on customised products such as mobile X-ray and dental units, or buses outfitted for meetings.