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Need of the hour

by Ranga Jayasuriya

Colombo was a ghost city on Tuesday, its busy roads were vacated, only a few vehicles were seen travelling on once congested roads.

Such kind of calm would not have been possible even on a public holiday.

But, that is how the busy commercial capital of the country looked like when the private bus owners stopped work, bringing the nation to a standstill.

It was an unusual coalition of owners of school vehicles, container drivers and even some three wheeler drivers who took the entire public by ransom in protest to the increased fines for traffic offenses introduced by the Increases of Fines Act No 12 of 2005.

There were also rumours that owners of vans transporting students and three wheeler drivers had been threatened by the bus operators.

Hit by high cost of fuel, spare parts and other expenditure, the private bus owners have their own worries.

But, their hasty decision to go on a strike, only promoted the stereo-type negative picture of the private bus operator, further deteriorating the credibility of the private bus service (if there is anything left), in the public eye.

Gemunu Wijeratne, the President of the Private Bus Owners Association argued that the top-up fines were unreasonable and that before any increase of fines, the government should have looked in to the existing problems of the road transportation such as deteriorating high ways, traffic lights and ad hoc timetables etc.

One argument was that the increase of fines envisaged in the Act were unreasonable given that the average salary was low.

The Increase of Fines Act has levied heavy fines on the traffic offenders, for instance the fine for high speed driving, which stood at 200 rupees has been increased to Rs 1,000; fine for driving without a valid driving licence has been increased from Rs 150 to Rs 2,500. Fine for underage driving has been increased from Rs 150 to Rs 5,000. The counter argument of the law enforcing authorities was that the increased fines would act as a deterrent to traffic offences. Given the fact that heavy fines are unbearable costs to drivers alone, could lead them to drive with extra care.

The strike lasted for only 13 hours, but the damage was already done. Most office workers could not go to work. Those who reported to work were seen travelling in packed CTB buses and trains. School attendance was low as most school service vans had joined the boycott.

The strike had a hasty end like its beginning. There was no giving into the strikers' demands by the government, but there was a face saving for the bus owners to resume work. The government did not give any assurance to the private bus operators to amend the disputed Increase of Fines Act No 12 of 2005, but it offered to refer the Act to Parliament along with their objections, where the decision, whether to reduce the fines or not will be taken.

The second objection of the strikers related to Section 217 (1) and (2) of the Act, dealing with reckless and callous driving for which a fine ranging from Rs 1,500 to 25,000 could be imposed.

The argument of the bus operators was that the wording of the section has conferred greater room for the discretion of police and court. The government agreed to give a precise interpretation for the section within a month, and present a cabinet paper through the relevant Minister. The strike was called off after nine hours of extensive discussion between the representatives of private bus owners, three wheeler drivers and container drivers associations.

And the private buses are back on the roads. But, for most people this week's islandwide strike was a bitter reminder of how a public service could be squandered when it is over dependent on the private sector without guarantee to the consumer, especially on those individual businessmen who seek a fast buck for their investment.

It also highlights the importance of a better regulatory mechanism for the public transport. Given, the fact that 80 per cent of public transport is provided by the private bus operators and cluster bus companies; such a mechanism regulating the service by both sectors is of paramount importance.

There are approximately 17,000 private buses in Sri Lanka, half of which operate in the Western Province.

There are an estimated 9,000 buses at the Cluster Bus Companies (CBC), but, four thousand buses do not operate daily owning to simple mechanical failures and delay in repairs.

The CBCs have continuously suffered from lack of buses, deteriorating revenue, excessive work force, inadequate working capital and low investment, and government's effort to restructure the CBCs have failed on several occasions in the past, due to trade union agitations.

The failure of the cluster bus companies to provide an efficient service has helped the private bus operators to dominate the public transport. But, it is everybody's knowledge that the quality of the service has deteriorated and the conduct of the bus crew is impertinent and offensive. Further more, certain government measures aimed at ensuring welfarism in public transport have harmed the competitiveness and efficiency in the service.

The Central Bank Report of the year 2004, while admitting that the government control of bus fares has been made for the protection of commuters, says that the very same protection has done more harm to them, by way of discomfort, elongated travel time, high exposure to risk of accident and a general reduction in productivity.

"A liberal bus fare policy that automatically takes into account cost increases should be formulated to ensure the long-term sustainability of the sector," recommends the report.

Last year, the Cabinet approved the Transport Ministry's strategic action plan, which covers all major aspects of passenger and good transportation.

The plan includes the preparation of effective time tables, provision of training to staff and bus crew, building 1,000 bus stands, recommencing school bus services, providing subsidies for the operations in rural areas and bringing necessary amendments to the National Transport Commission Act. But the program is yet to take off the ground, hit by insufficient funding.

There are no short cuts to revamp the ailing transport sector. Parties concerned need to formulate a practical plan, backed by sufficient finance resources to upgrade much needed infrastructure.

Any such plan should have to strike a delicate balance of the welfare of commuters, investment concerns of bus operators and the competitiveness and efficiency of the public transport service.

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