PP’s public bus services get back to full throttle

The capital’s  public buses are going full throttle as the Covid-19 end game approaches with almost 100 buses operating this month but only 3,000 passengers ride the buses daily, far fewer than the 10,000-passenger capacity.

After closing operations for almost two years, the city buses were called to resume by Prime Minister Hun Sen on November 1 last year.

Phnom Penh deputy governor Keut Chhe yesterday said that City Hall is considering to restart all routes as soon as possible, however the figures of passengers is so low that the decision is pending.

“We have a total of 13 routes. The first, second, third and fourth routes are the most popular that used to have more than 10,000 passengers before Covid-19. After Covid-19, we are focusing on these four routes to gain passengers,” he said.

“Due to few passengers, we need to hang in at first until it reaches more than 10,000 or almost 10,000 per day before resuming all 13 routes,” said Chhe.

He added that after receiving complaints from bus passengers that they are waiting more than 30 or 40 minutes for a bus, City Hall officials activated all buses on the four operating routes.

Phnom Penh Autonomous Bus Transportation director Ean Sokhim said starting from February, about 90 buses are now operating.

“The buses are operating under health measures and guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and we have seen that fewer passengers are using this service currently which why we operated all cars on four routes to serve community better,” he said, adding, that two personnel operate each bus, one to drive and one to scan temperatures and QR codes.

Long Tola, a driver of Route 1, said: “Usually the route is used by students, both small and big. They are leaning that sometimes we can’t have a seat for them but I am happy to help everybody live the new normal in a perfect way.”

Hean Kalyan is a resident in Phnom Penh who always uses the bus to travel from Wat Phnom to Chbar Ampov to visit her mother. She said that the bus is really easy for her and even reduces her expenses.

“I like the warm welcome from the driver and have seen few passengers but in the evening around 5pm I always see a large number of students use the bus service and it is very safe for them,” she said.

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