The director told media sources in the central Myanmar city the bus services would be inaugurated this coming July on as yet unspecified routes. Ye Htut noted that if the urban bus routes proved successful, the number of motorcycles on the city’s streets could be drastically reduced.
Immortalised in the poem Mandalay by Rudyard Kipling, the city is the second biggest in Myanmar and a bustling location. The locality is currently served by a fleet of more than 800 buses, yet most citizens still travel around by motorcycle or bicycle.
Two-wheeled vehicles are the preferred mode of transport for most people living in Myanmar. These often lead to traffic congestion and Yangon banned the use of motorcycles in its downtown zone more than 10 years ago.
Mandalay’s municipal transport spokesperson said last month it planned to establish improved urban bus services. This seemed like a move designed to emulate Yangon and eventually lead to the exile of motorcycles to surrounding suburbs and rural districts.
South Korean firm to back Mandalay urban bus services
News in Asia
A local company in the city of Mandalay says it has agreed on a partnership to operate public bus services here. Myanmar Gaon director Aung Ye Htut says his company will be joining a conglomerate of firms headed up by Namsong Ltd from South Korea in the project.