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| Sunday, 13 March 2005 |
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New school bus service in the offing by Anton Nonis The National Transport Commission (NTC), in response to a recent article in the Sunday Observer highlighting travails schoolchildren faced while travelling in school vans, has stepped in to alleviate their distress. The NTC is spearheading for a well organised school bus service that would be made an islandwide operation soon. A consultant of the NTC said they had selected three areas for the pilot project. The areas are Colombo, Kurunegala and Deniyaya. Arrangements are made to deploy a fleet of 200 buses from private and State bus companies to launch the scheme. One hundred buses will be provided by private operators. The balance is from the State run bus companies. Sources said already 60 State run buses do a school bus service which is highly insufficient. It will be strengthened with the participation of the private bus sector. So discussions with private bus operators had begun. School authorities have expressed great satisfaction on the school bus service project by the NTC. The NTC has received fresh applications from about 20 schools detailing their requirements. Applicants who possess permits to run on the relevant routes are eligible to apply. The NTC officials said they have requested school principals of these three areas to create `School Transport Committees' (STC) in their schools. The STC will supervise how the school bus service functions. Any payment for the buses by the NTC will be made on this recommendation. |
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