The Ministry of Public Works and Transport and the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Administration are studying the feasibility of launching a public transport system with 300 buses operating in Sihanoukville before expanding throughout the coastal province.
Deputy governor Long Dimanche told The Post on February 21 that officials are also preparing to establish a “Smart Parking” system in the Phsar Leu market area in Sihanoukville.
He said the provincial administration and the public works department expects to have between 60 to 70 city buses suitable to the road situation. In addition to those city buses, private businesses are also planning to make 200 more buses available to the provincial administration for future route expansions.
“It is still in the planning phase, so if you’re asking when exactly it will begin, I cannot answer that yet as we are still in discussions and are in the process of organising everything. It is too large of an undertaking to just do it immediately without careful planning,” he said.
When asked how necessary public transport is for the province, Dimanche explained that in a town that is growing as rapidly as Sihanoukville – with more people coming to live there daily and more economic and business activity coming along with them – the number of vehicles is also increasing and the roads will soon be afflicted by traffic jams and lengthy commutes if nothing is done to address the problem.
“Certainly, in any town which wants to be considered a real city in the near future, it is indispensable to have some public transport,” he said.
The launch of the public bus system is also in line with the aim to develop the province into a Smart City.
During a recent press conference on the province’s achievements over the past five years, governor Kuoch Chamroeun said he had received word from Prime Minister Hun Sen that he should prepare to take possession of 60 buses from a private company.
“Recently, I received instruction from Samdech Techo that Boyong will hand over 60 buses to Preah Sihanouk province. But it is just being prepared as of now; the contract hasn’t been signed yet.
“I said that if we get these buses then we will arrange things like Phnom Penh by providing free rides to all students,” he said.
Kim Pagna, director of the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation, welcomed the initiative to launch public transport services in the province, which has the potential to further increase its already rapid economic growth, but the study should also include the needs of commuters in terms of travel times from home to the bus station or stops, safety factors and favourable pricing for the public to encourage people to use the service.
“This is a lucrative investment. The benefit here is we avoid congestion and reduce traffic accidents. When accidents happen, the cumulative losses end up being huge. The lower the price for the service, the better it will be and pricing can be different for different groups like students, tourists or workers,” he said.
