Students at the National University of Laos are set to benefit from the purchase of 13 battery-powered minibuses for transportation between the Dongdok campus and the Morning Market.
One of 13 buses that will ply the route between the NUOL's Dongdok campus and the Morning Market.
Valued at US$170,000, the aim of the minibuses is to cut the number of road accidents and reduce environmental impacts.
The minibuses should also ease traffic congestion on this route, which is a main arterial highway running through the city.
The vehicles are set to go into operation today. Ten of them are 10-seater minibuses and three are eight-seat shuttle buses.
The Vientiane State Bus Enterprise organised a ceremon y at its office yesterday to officially announce the bus route, which will be ready for back-to-school day on July 1.
Deputy Mayor of Vientiane Bounchanh Sinthavong said about 7,000 students went to Dongdok every day, with many of them using private vehicles to get to the campus.
This form of transportation was affecting the environment in Vientiane .
“This is a simple project by the Lao government for students. The service runs at a reasonable price and will help protect the environment and reduce road accidents, which kill students each year,” he said.
According to the Deputy Mayor, a study sponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency found that 10 to 14 students were killed by road accidents each year.
“The buses will also reduce traffic jams between Dongdok and the Morning Market.”
Enterprise Director Khamphoune Temelath said the government was concerned about making transport affordable for students, so the enterprise sought funds from the government to supply the Chinese-made vehicles.
“Normal bus tickets cost 2,000 kip per passenger on this route, but fares on the minibuses will be just 1,500 kip per person. While it's a small reduction, 25 percent off should help them a lot,” Mr Khamphoune said.
The enterprise reported that each minibus would do three round trips from the Morning Market to Dongdok each day, a total of about 36km, before needing a battery charge for 6 to 8 hours.
The buses have a maximum speed of 40km per hour and are able to travel about 80km per day.
“If it appears the project has good prospects, we will report the success to the government and request more funds for other battery-powered minibuses for use in Vientiane ,” Mr Khamphoune said.
1) its not that far of a drive. 2) its ment to keep people safe 3) it has good benefits its a battery powered vehicle means no emitting carbondioxide or air pollution.
i for one think this is a great great idea. i hope they could invent maybe solar powered vehicles since lao has plenty of sunlight.
any ways lao is changing and i believe this is a good thing because were developing different then other countries i think were developing in the environment friendly way other developing countries would just invest in gas powered cars.
too slow. why they are so expensive ?
