Electronic ticketing of vehicles will be introduced in Bangkok next year as part of a policy of strict enforcement of traffic laws to reduce congestion and the number of road accidents in the capital, police said on Thursday.
Commuters queue on the road for their ride at a bus stop near BTS Mor Chit. The police plan to separate the stops for public buses, vans and taxis.
The first step was launched on Monday, when traffic police began towing away illegally parked vehicles on 10 congested major roads in Bangkok.
Police said 29 cars had been towed away to designated parking areas near the local police station, where the owners had to pay a fine to retrieve them.
Pol Maj Gen Adul Narongsak, the deputy Bangkok police chief supervising traffic, said police will continue to tow cars parked in prohibited areas. The policy will be expanded to another 50 roads, which fall under the responsibility of 88 police stations in Bangkok. This was planned to start by Nov 1.
He said traffic police will also introduce an online e-traffic ticket system, with 190 million baht in budget support from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
The police office is in the process of buying the needed equipment and it was expected the system could be launched some time in 2014.
Pol Maj Gen Adul said police had experimented with the use of e-traffic ticketing four years ago.
Once up and runnng the system would provide online information about outstanding fines and charges linked to vehicle licence plate numbers, and provide a means of checking whether the vehicle's plate is genuine or not.
“The system will improve the efficiency of traffic law enforcement,” he said.
Police also want to install more red-light cameras at intersections, adding to the current 10 cameras filming traffic-light offenders.
The police goal was to install a total of 200 cameras, covering all intersections and road bridges in the capital to also monitor illegal lane changing, which is a major traffic problem, he said.
However, the city police bureau currently has only a 15 million baht budget for this project, which would pay for only 10 more cameras.
Pol Maj Gen Adul said the police will also try to solve the problem of traffic congestion at bus stops, as taxis and vans often park at the bus stops adding to the problem as buses also queue to pick up passengers.
The police office will discuss with Bangkok Mass Transit Authority and Land Transport Department the creation of separate stops for vans and taxis.
An initial survey showed there are over 100 bus stops in Bangkok that cause traffic problems. Police will at first start to re-arranging the traffic for public services at major spots such as Central Lat Phrao, Mor Chit, Saphan Mai and areas around the markets. The public will be informed of any changes to be introduced, he said.