Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, is one of the most highly populated urban centres in Asia. Bangkok is home to over 20 million people, over the metropolitan area of 9000km2, notorious for the horrendous rush-hour traffic gridlocks, is in fact one of the most charming cities in the world, where I often consider as my third home aside from Vancouver and Hong Kong! The transit system in Bangkok tops as one of the busiest transit operations in Asia. Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA), the dominant transit operating company owned by the government of Thailand, is responsible for transporting over 3 million passengers everyday. BMTA owns approximately 3600 full-sized conventional buses, while private contractors subsidized by the government operates 3500 conventional buses. On top of that, there are approximately 1100 minibuses operated by private contractors, 2200 "songthaews" (truck bus) privately owned, and over 5000 vans operated by private contractors - in total, there are over 15,000 transit vehicles serving over 400 routes in Bangkok, organized into 8 regional zones:
Zone 1: North (Major transit hubs: Rangsit, Bangkhen)
Zone 2: Upper East (Major hubs: Bangkapi, Minburi)
Zone 3: Lower East (Major hubs: Samrong, Samut Prakan)
Zone 4: South-Central (Major hubs: Khlong Toey, Sathu Pradit)
Zone 5: Southwest (Major hubs: Dao Khanong, Phra Pra Daeng)
Zone 6: West (Major hubs: Bangkhae, Thonburi)
Zone 7: Northwest (Major hubs: Nonthaburi, Bang Sue)
Zone 8: Central (Major hubs: Huay Khwang, Lad Phrao)
BMTA operates a gigantic fleet of buses manufactured by Japanese manufacturer such as Hino, Isuzu and Mitsubishi; Mercedes-Benz buses manufactured and assembled locally by Thonburi Group; and until recently, Chinese buses manufactured by Golden Dragon and Higer are imported for fleet modernization.
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