Ministry of Transport implements a strategic plan:

Traffic Congestion: Are there solutions?

by Surekha GALAGODA

The traffic management strategic plan formulated and implemented by the Ministry of Transport has proposed to promote the public transport while reducing the entry of private vehicles to the Colombo city.

It was reported that the new plan is expected to be implemented by the end of 2010 and the number of private vehicles entering Colombo city could be reduced by 50,000 from 175,000 to 125,000.

This would improve traffic speeds by 50% and reduce pollution levels by 50%.

The new policy proposes to increase railway passenger arrivals in the city by 50% by end of 2010 as one of the alternatives to reducing road vehicles.

It has proposed improvement of the quality of the railway service and it is expected to start new services where feasible.

To achieve the desirable goals the new policy proposes to reserve at least 1/3 of the existing road space within a 10km radius from Colombo Fort for high occupancy vehicles and such areas to be utilised for high priority bus lanes. Also, a pre-feasibility study is being carried out by the National Transport Commission (NTC) to look into the possibilities of introducing a new mass transit mode like Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system to city of Colombo and suburbs.

At least 1/10th of the space of all roads within the city area are to be reserved for the use of non-motorised transport and it is expected to provide pedestrian sidewalks and bicycle lanes where appropriate and possible.

Measures are being taken to reroute the bus routes in the city and suburbs to reduce overlapping routes and to reduce unproductive circulation, transfer and waiting time for buses.

With this exercise the utility value of buses is expected to be enhanced while contributing to fuel saving and reduction in emissions. Surveys for this have already been completed and a few routes have been changed.

The new policy has targeted to reduce the number of goods transporting vehicles arriving in the Colombo city by 50% by relocating or decentralising logistic centres and distribution activities outside the city.

It was highlighted that according to the estimates over 830,000 people arrive in Colombo city daily and of them 90% arrive by roads. Only around 80,000 or nearly 10% are carried by the railway.

The road passengers enter the city by 12 main roads and 56% of the passengers arrive by buses while the others by private vehicles, such as cars (11%), motorcycles (5%) and hired vehicles (18%).

Over 200,000 vehicles arrive daily in Colombo. Of them 11,000 are buses, 15,000 goods vehicles and balance 175,000 private vehicles mostly carrying 1 or 2 passengers.

In addition 250,000 vehicles have been registered within the Colombo municipal area.

According to the new transport policy approved last month the government will regulate the present and future traffic to manage problems created by excessive traffic entering the cities.

It is important to take all necessary steps to reduce the number of private vehicles entering the city and to encourage the use of public transport modes.

National Transport Commission has already introduced a new value added bus service "Cityliner" to attract private car users to public transport. One of the special features in this service is the provision of parking space at the origin of the journey for the passengers without any additional fee. Also, the "Cityliner" provides comfortable and reliable service to the passengers at a reasonable cost while contributing to alleviate the congestion in the city and reduce air pollution.

The service started in September, from Moratuwa to Colombo has been extended to Wadduwa. There are over 200 passenger trips on these six buses, which have taken an estimated 50-60 vehicles off the Galle Road.

It is high time to encourage all citizens to use public transport and to simultaneously enhance the level of service of all public transport modes.

Our thanks to Chairman NTC Dr. Amal Kumarage and Former Director Planning NTC Namalie Siyambalapitiya for providing the information