The Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) inaugural project to mitigate traffic congestion in Bangkok, Thailand has ended. TMF held a closing ceremony to share the outcomes of the project.
The project began in April 2015 with a grant of 110 million Thai Baht (approximately 400 million Japanese Yen) to Chulalongkorn University. The team implemented measures to help control the amount of traffic and manage its flow in the Sathorn Road district of Bangkok where a variety of factors create heavy congestion. These measures comprise a guideline for cross sectoral collaboration to achieve these goals.
Measures to control the amount of traffic
- Establish a Park & Ride system to promote the use of public transportation
- Provide a shuttle bus service to local schools to reduce the number of private cars dropping off and picking up students
- Build an information system through a mobile application to promote use of the Park & Ride and determine best routes with shortest commuting times
- Promote flexible work hours among local companies to stagger the commuting times to mitigate a concentration of traffic volume
Measures to manage the traffic flow
- Identify bottlenecks through traffic simulation analysis & the introduction of solutions such as exclusive bus lanes and no parking zones
- Optimize traffic signals with digital support tools adopted by the local police
- In June 2016, during a two-week trial period, the team implemented additional measures such as reversible lanes for use during peak congestion hours and bus stop relocations. The team then evaluated each measure, measuring traffic flow.
To continue mitigating traffic congestion, it is important that the community lead and maintain these activities. To those ends, the team formulated these measures into a Roadmap to lead cross sectoral cooperation across companies, government, and academia. In February 2017, the team proposed the Roadmap to an advisory body of the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand.
TMF Chairman Akio Toyoda, concurrently president of Toyota Motor Corporation, said “In this project, we have not only been supported by the Chulalongkorn University, but also by the city of Bangkok, the local police, citizens and many companies with understanding and great cooperation. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am extremely pleased that TMF, which aims to work closely with local communities, to cooperate with efforts by regional entities. I would like to make use of the much learning through this project for the future activities of TMF and contribute to development of a more mobile society.”
Chulalongkorn University Dean of Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Dr. Supot said “This is a project to find sustainable mobility systems for cities that reduce travelling time, expense, energy consumption and environmental issues. It is important to utilize knowledge and technology for traffic management and collaborate across all sectors. I believe that this project demonstrates a case of a sustainable mobility system though the Roadmap. I would like to express my sincere thanks to TMF for this project.”
