A good move

Traffic congestion in Colombo is almost unbearable now, with bumper to bumper traffic especially at morning and evening rush hour. At other times it is marginally better, but experts say that vehicles will be crawling at 3 Km/h in and around Colombo in a few years if corrective steps are not taken as part of the Megapolis project.

There are several approaches to overcome this problem. One is the construction of more roads. Most existing roads in Colombo cannot be widened anymore and new roads at ground level are hardly realistic.

The only alternative is to build elevated roads. The Cabinet has taken this route with the recent approval of the construction of two elevated highways connecting Kelaniya - Rajagiriya and Kelaniya to Colombo Port. This is indeed a timely move. In fact, one major shortcoming of the current expressway network is that the three (Airport, OCH and Southern) are not linked in a manner that makes travel easier.

Airport

From Colombo, it is still easier to take the Galle Road all the way rather than going to Kottawa (which can take as much as two hours at certain times of the day) and then entering the Southern Expressway. To go to the airport from or through Colombo, it still takes around 45-60 minutes depending on the time of day.

Hence building elevated roads that link major centres and eventually the expressways is a welcome move.

There is another approach favoured by some - limiting the number of vehicles on the road. This is easier said than done, because everyone aspires to buy a vehicle. Mobility is a fundamental right and in a democratic country such as ours, the authorities simply cannot deny the citizens the right to purchase a vehicle. Governments raise duties and taxes on vehicles from time to time to control the flow of new vehicles entering the roads but this is only a very short term measure. Vehicle sales pick up again as people adjust to the new pricing structure.

Pricing

There is also a debate on whether there should be a road pricing system, not just on the expressways but also on other key roads in Colombo and some other cities. A toll has been proposed earlier for vehicles entering Colombo at rush hour, but there is no indication as to how practical it will be in reality. There are some cities such as London which have a Congestion Charge for vehicles entering and parking in the Central Business District. Such a measure, coupled with the availability of luxury buses to get into the city, may actually discourage people from getting into the car every morning. Several earlier attempts at a park and ride failed miserably as car owners did not take up the offer at all. A private insurance has now

revived plans for such a system and it remains to be seen whether it will be a success in the long term. If it can be maintained successfully, at least 500 cars can be taken off the roads leading to Colombo. This is also the premise behind the proposed Bus Rapid Transit plan for Colombo. Similar systems run successfully in many countries, including India.

Perspective

The best solution from an economic perspective is a complete, comfortable, punctual and efficient public transport system. At present, our public transport system is woefully inadequate to meet the demands of the commuters. Given its present state, it is also extremely difficult to veer motorists away from their cars to the rail or bus network. In building a proposed new Mass Rapid Transit system, the authorities have to give priority to two urban routes which have no public transport alternative other than buses - Colombo to Horana and Colombo to Kaduwela. There are reports that the previously proposed monorail project has been binned to replace it with a more cost-effective light rail system. Whatever the end result, there is no denying that these two suburban routes need a good public transport system.

In any case, the extensive focus on the existing and proposed expressway network has taken our attention away from the need to upgrade the existing road network. Here's one interesting fact that most Sri Lankans do not know: Sri Lanka (total land area 65,610 Sq Km) is ranked 122nd out of 250 countries in terms of size, but is ranked 42nd in terms of the size of the road network, with over 114,000 Kms of motorable roads (not counting expressways). In comparison, bigger and more developed countries such as South Korea, Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal, Norway and Iceland have much smaller road networks. Many bigger developing countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Laos, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Chile, Morocco, Ethiopia, Namibia, Myanmar, Madagascar and Afghanistan are literally miles behind Sri Lanka when it comes to roads.

Rural

Much of our road network consists of B, C and D grade roads which weave their way in and out of rural areas. Some of them, administered by provincial and local authorities, are not in very good shape. Regular viewers of news on local TV channels come across a news item or two

highlighting the woeful state of a rural road almost every day. These roads are so dilapidated that State and private bus operators often refuse to run fearing damage to their vehicles.

The result is that schoolchildren have to walk for miles to the nearest school and even critically ill patients have to be carried by stretcher until a passing vehicle can be hailed on a proper connecting road. Farmers in these areas are unable to bring their produce on time to markets in the city. The economic and social damage is immense, to say the least.

The Government has commendably commenced a programme to uplift identified rural roads and this should be extended countrywide. Even in so-called urban areas, there are some roads with huge potholes which have not seen the colour of tar for years. These must be repaired without delay. But at the end of the day, the road network can be widened and expanded only up to a certain extent. It is even more beneficial to augment the public transport services so that the insatiable appetite for private transport is curbed somewhat, reducing the massive burden on the road network.