Good news for public transport users in Bangkok Thailand today, as public transport management authorities announced that fares for the Bangkok Skytrain and the upcoming subway system will be halved.

Public transport management in Bangkok suffers the same problems as that of any developing city of around 10 million, especially given the massive decade of growth and a continuously seasonal shifting demand due to tourism and 'immigrant' workers from other Thai provinces and cities.

Skytrain fares have already been reduced, the last time shortly after it's inception, yet Skytrain fares for shorter distances are only just less than taxi fares, taxis being more convenient offering door-to-door transportation. Motorcycle taxi costs are even less, and much faster if not as comfortable. Buses remain crowded, at around one quarter to one-third the costs, and they serve far more routes and stops albeit in a slow, sweltering, and jerky fashion.

Bangkok's Skytrain has been running at well below capacity ever since its establishment, despite the middle class taking to it, maybe because the costs kept out the "riff-raff". If anything, the Bangkok Skytrain put the "face" back into using public transport for many status-conscious Thais, but it is still to make a profit as it has failed to become a favoured form of transportation for mainstream commuters.

The down side is that rumours are flying that taxi fares will be increased to "encourage" use of public transport, making them significantly more expensive than Kuala Lumpur taxis, though providing a much more reliable and friendly service. Authorities will also be implementing policies to "encourage private business to invest in opportunities around stations and stops", at best a strategy that will encourage entreprenuerism, at worst turning stations and stops in mega malls full of screaming kids that need to be crawled through four times a day for daily commuters.

Bangkok's transport infrastructure has improved markedly over 10 years, with new toll ways and mass-transit options. But the love of private transportation in the form of private cars and chauffeur-driven limousines together with increasing affordability and easy credit has meant that the famous Bangkok "rot-thip" (traffic jams) has not let up to a significant extent. Successive Bangkok governors have resorted to highly publicised campaigns to rid Bangkok streets to elephants as a spin that they were doing something about reducing traffic jams.

Truth is that Bangkok traffic jams are no less frustrating than those in the younger and more modern neighbouring Kuala Lumpur, where traffic also stops to a crawl at peak times. The difference is you can always get a taxi in Bangkok from the pavement within seconds, compared to Kuala Lumpur where you are forced to negotiate an extra cost, if indeed you can catch one. Most KL cabbies go to sleep under palm trees during peak hours.

The new subway system in Bangkok offers much promise, substantially increasing reach and stations within the Bangkok inner city, and now outer commuter dormitories, well linked with the existing Skytrain. Yet the decision to reduce fares demonstrates that changing ingrained habits and customs within this anarchic, bustling, exciting and colorful city will take some serious short-to-medium term fiscal pain. Public transport management is never an easy task...