Thailand to develop single pass for expressways and motorways

BANGKOK, 23 July 2012 (NNT) – The Ministry of Transport will set up a joint vehicle pass to increase convenience for motorists going from expressways to motorways and vice versa.

After attending a meeting over the development of the joint pass, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Transport Sornsak Sansombut said that both the M-Pass, which is used for motorways and is supervised by the Department of Highways (DOH), and the Easy Pass, which is used for expressways and is provided by the Expressway Authority of Thailand (EXAT), will likely be merged into a single ticketing system in the future.

According to Mr. Sornsak, it has been discovered that there are many limitations to forming a single pass. However, both the DOH and EXAT have been assigned to identify the pros and cons and to make sure that the single ticketing system will not create confusion among commuters and will provide more convenience to them.

Two options have been initially proposed for the system’s operation. The first is to have the DOH hire EXAT to collect revenues from selling the M-Pass on its behalf, whereas the second option is to let each of these organizations operate independently.

The matter will be finalized on Friday by Transport Minister Jarupong Ruengsuwan when another meeting is convened.