Buses, but….

This is a Phnom Penh city bus on a regular route. It’s rush hour and notice that the bus is basically empty, just one or two passengers (not visible). Japan and China have both given over 100 buses in the last two years and the number of routes was increased from three to thirteen, but mostly the buses run almost empty. When the first route was started about three years ago, people were interested in the idea–and attracted by the free rides for the first couple months, but since then nothing successful has been done to increase ridership. Donors have given the vehicles; now they need to teach the government how to market and run an effective bus system.