It has already been one month that the Phnom Penh City Bus has been launched under the cooperation between Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Phnom Penh Municipality. The bus service started its first run on February 05, 2014 with 10 buses serving their customers from 5:30 AM till 8:30 PM daily.
Looking further back into the past, a similar project had also been launched in Cambodia. In 2001, there were also buses deployed to serve the public but it appeared to be a failed effort. With this new project, learning from the earlier steps, the government and JICA hope it will have an improvement and it draws more public attention to using the bus instead of their own mean of transportation which usually lead into congestion and traffic problems.
Ten air-conditioned buses are used for the pilot bus service. The one-month service operates from 5:30 am to 8:00 pm with 36 bus stops in every 10-15 minutes, on Preah Monivong Blvd., from the Old Stadium roundabout to Chbar Ampov. The bus ticket costs 1,500 Riel (US$0.37) and each bus can accommodate from 50 to 60 passengers.
Comments from the bus users reveals that they had a very positive experience from the services and they are more likely the ones to use this same or similar service if it exist in the future. From its facebook page, the Phnom Penh City Bus also gains high popularity. People keep asking for the extension of this pilot and, even more, there are those who wish for the expansion of the running lines to the other main roads of Phnom Penh.
Overall, this year bus project appears to be a more effective one compared to the previous launch in 2001. However, regardless of this success, the bus service tends to have a little bit negative influence on the taxi drivers and Motor Dub, especially the ones whose bases are at somewhere along the road the bus is serving. The government should take this into consideration and try to bring out a win-win solution to traffic problem while eliminating or minimizing its side effects.
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