Thailand is aiming to have up to 200 new electric buses servicing the capital city by the end of the year, with the Transport Ministry confident it will receive approval from the government for its 3.3 billion Baht ($12.4 million AUD) plan next month.
The news comes as results from a five-month trial of a Hino hybrid bus showed a 50 per cent reduction over diesel equivalents over 42,300km.
The Bangkok Mass Transport is considering replacing nearly 500 natural gas powered vehicles with issues with the recently tested hybrid model.
The BMTA is also tightening requirements for public van operators, requiring them to install a GPS system by the end of March, and plans to replace them with minibuses.
According to Deputy Transport Minister Pichit Akrathit, the vans have an accident rate five times higher than minibuses, and there would be incentives for operators to move to larger vehicles.
