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| Sunday, 14 November 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Alternative means of transport to economise on fuel consumption by Major General Gratiaen Silva VSV (Retd) One of the means that can be adopted to economise fuel consumption is to introduce the use of alternative means of transport. There are several categories of people who can use public transport. They are: Public servants who use privately owned cars/vans to travel to work, mercantile sector employees who utilise private transport to travel to work, school teachers travelling to respective schools in private vehicles, school children, there are thousands of whom use privately owned vans and cars, for travel to school and return home, housewives using private vehicles for marketing, shopping, etc. There are a large number of privately owned coaches and luxury buses which are currently uneconomically and unprofitably under utilised. If the Ministry of Transport can introduce a scheme to encourage the owners of these vehicles to run their coaches/luxury buses at rates which will be attractive and profitable to the owners of these vehicles as well as to the general public a tremendous saving in fuel consumption will undoubtedly result. Implementation of a scheme of this nature commencing in Colombo and other towns and cities, with immediate effect will have many advantages such as; less fuel consumption in a massive way, consequent to a reduction of the number of vehicles on the roads. Reduced numbers of vehicles on the roads will result in far less congestion on our already over crowded roads. (there will be minimum wastage of productive time spent on road). Reduced number of vehicles on the roads will result in far less traffic accidents, less environmental pollution, improvement of the pace and quality of life. Thus, the tasks of the Traffic Police will consequently be much easier and more effective. Overall there is bound to be an improvement in traffic and road discipline. The Ministry of Transport will have to issue permits for these coaches/luxury buses to operate at agreed times, on agreed routes, at agreed rates which will have to be attractive to the vehicle owners. If the concerned parties agree to this in principle, it is strongly suggested that, as far as possible, these vehicles operate on a 'circle route' basis. |
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