Government House, 22 Oct. – “Suriya” reveals that he is only studying the collection of traffic congestion tax, asking for 6 months to 1 year, admitting that he must find money to buy electric trains for the state, only the lines have electric trains, while the 20 baht electric trains for the entire line must be completed before September next year.
Mr. Suriya Juangroongruangkit, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, explained the case of the Pheu Thai Party posting a survey of agreement on the issue of collecting a traffic congestion fee so that everyone can use the electric train at 20 baht for the entire line, saying that we are trying to expand it to have 20 baht electric trains on other lines and are expediting the process of the common ticket act, which will start in September 2025. Later, there was talk of setting up a fund to buy every electric train line. In order to buy every electric train line, rail transportation must also have a source of income in order to have money to buy the elec
tric trains. And when looking at studies in many countries on solving traffic congestion problems, it was found that there is a collection of money or what is called a traffic congestion tax.
Therefore, the Ministry of Transport is currently studying where and how to collect the tax to benefit the public. We believe that if the public uses electric trains at very cheap prices, they will have a better quality of life. Furthermore, we know that using your own car costs a lot and it takes a long time to get home. There is no happiness in the family. However, we will study the traffic tax collection first to see if the results are good or bad. After that, we will explain it to the public.
The results of this study should take about 6 months to 1 year, but the 20 baht flat-rate electric train project must be completed first, and it is confirmed that it will definitely happen next year.
For the dolls placed, they range from 40 – 50 baht per day. The goal is to collect them on routes with electric trains because
when there are electric trains, if people still use private cars, it will cause pollution. We may have to collect them, but we will also have options for cars. For example, we collect them on the Paragon route. People who will pass through Paragon to go to Phra Khanong can change routes to Phetchaburi or Rama 4. We must give them options.
When asked about the issue of collecting a traffic tax, it may be necessary to connect the public transport system first, Mr. Suriya said that it is correct. Before the study results come out, we must first prepare the public transport system.
When asked whether the traffic tax collection would affect the business sector in the area, Mr. Suriya said that pickup trucks are not charged, only sedans. He also believes that if people change their behavior from sedans to electric cars, there will definitely be no pollution.
Mr. Suriya also mentioned the draft of the Railway Transport Act that is preparing to be submitted to the House of Representatives meeting. It will use the
draft of the Cabinet, not the draft of the Pheu Thai Party. 314.-Thai News Agency
Source: Thai News Agencyl