Needed: development of a people-friendly transport strategy

Lionel WIJESIRI

A national policy will be formulated to regulate private transport services especially private buses, three wheelers and school vans, Private Transport Services Minister C B Ratnayake said recently.

This is indeed a good move because private transport is a key element in our country's infrastructure. It provides services essential for promoting development and plays a significant role in influencing the pattern of distribution of economic activity and improving productivity.

Our transport system, including both public and private sectors, comprises a number of modes. Roads and Railways are the dominant means of transport carrying the major portion of total traffic generated in the country. Although other modes like coastal shipping and inland water transport would play a greater role, the railways and roads would continue to dominate the transport landscape in the foreseeable future. The capacity of each has to be developed to meet its specific demand within the requirements of the transport system as a whole. The system has to be viewed at each step as an integrated structure, keeping in mind the relationship between different transport services.

Public transport accounts for nearly 73 percent of the total motorized passenger transport and serves as the only means of transport for majority of the population. Of this, bus transportation accounts for nearly 68 percent, with state owned bus service share of 23 percent and private operator share of 45 percent provided by small scale operators. Sri Lanka Railway accounts for only 5 percent, carrying 120mn passengers per year. Despite attempts made during the recent past, the quality and service of passenger transport have largely been neglected. Increase in public transport modal share will reduce traffic delays and congestion on roads and need for expensive road infrastructure developments.

Nearly 99 percent of freight movements are handled by the road transport. The freight market share of the Sri Lanka Railway has come down to 1 percent in the recent past, showing a drastic decline in the efficiency and competitiveness of SLR in handling freight. Sri Lanka is now poised for rapid economic growth. Such future growth will largely come from the agricultural, industrial and service sectors. Since economic activities in these sectors take place in village and urban areas, the state of our villages, towns and cities is crucial to our future growth.

Deficiencies

In spite of impressive achievements in the last few years, our transport system yet remains deficient in several respects. Comparably, worldwide transport growth has been consistently higher than the economic growth due to specialization, sourcing of material on a wider scale, the use of just-in-time strategies, further increase and dispersal of retail and wholesale activities etc. Prices of transport services have been falling as a result of increased productivity due to competition among suppliers of transport services as well as pressure from users who face relentless pressure from global competition in their own markets.

The current global trade scenario has brought home the urgency of recognizing that an efficient transportation system is necessary for increasing productivity and enabling the country to compete effectively in the world market. Adequacy and reliability of transport infrastructure and services are important factors, which contribute towards the ability of the country to compete in the field of international trade and attract foreign direct investment.

Public private partnership

The government cannot alone play the role in this sphere. It needs the support of the private sector. However, in a market economy with a co-operative private sector, the framework that the government provides for the transport sector largely determines the level of cost and transport operations. It is, therefore, necessary to create a policy environment that encourages competitive pricing and coordination between alternative modes in order to provide an integrated transport system that assures the mobility of goods and people at maximum efficiency and minimum cost.

Our transport systems have not been able to keep pace with the rapid and substantial increases in demand over the past few decades. Bus services in particular have deteriorated and their relative output has been further reduced as passengers have turned to personalized modes and intermediate public transport (such as three-wheelers and taxis), adding to traffic congestion which has had its impact on quality as well. Experience shows that the public welcomes a wide choice of transport, but despite the clear need for greater variety in public transport, there is a tendency in established organizations to offer very limited choice.

Measures

Much needs to be done if road transport (whether public or private) is to play a significant role in the life of the country. Measures need to be taken in the short-run to enhance the quality of transport service and to impose constraints on the use of private vehicles, particularly in cities. In the long-run, there needs to be effective land use planning and the introduction of new transit systems to keep the cities moving. It must not be forgotten that cities are the major contributors to economic growth and movement in and between cities is crucial for improved quality of life.

In general, Sri Lankan cities have not made much progress in implementing the demand side transport management measures, such as congestion pricing, restraints on parking etc. Although policy measures that involve restraining the use of private cars and two-wheelers are likely to be unpopular, a gradualist approach of progressively introducing restraints on road use, while at the same time improving public transport, is more likely to lead to greater acceptance. It is believed that improved public transport and more efficient management of demand would help to combat the trend away from public transport vehicles towards greater use of personalized modes.

The Central Government should assist Local Authorities for effective implementation of such measures. In fact, there is a pressing need to strengthen institutions in the transport sector. More often than not, the institutions responsible for urban transport generally lack the executive, financial and technical skills to cope with existing situations, let alone emerging transport problems. Central Government should provide training and technical assistance to such bodies, so that they could effectively prepare and implement sound policies and programmes.

TSM strategy

It is also worthwhile planning for a Transport System Management (TSM) strategy. This includes integrating new development areas of larger cities and small and medium towns. One-way systems, improvement of signals, traffic engineering improvement measures for road network, intersections, bus priority lanes, and suitable policies and development of intermediate passenger transport as a short-term measure should be introduced in all cities especially in metropolitan cities so that the existing road capacity and road user safety is increased.

Road infrastructure improvement measures like new road alignments, a hierarchy of roads, a provision of service roads, by-passes, ring roads, bus bays, wide medians, intersection improvements, construction and repair of footpaths and roads, removal of encroachments, good surface drainage etc. should also be introduced at least in metropolitan cities. These can be considered as medium-term measures.

However, there should be careful appraisal of all capital-intensive projects before implementing them. In addition, there should be a determined effort to develop alternative pollution free fuels in the long run.

All these measures suggested above would require a policy framework encompassing regulatory, pricing, and taxation mechanisms. They would have to be reinforced with effective enforcement to encourage the use of clean vehicles and fuels, restrict the use of polluting vehicles, and modify travel behavior and transport demand using regulatory and pricing instruments.

Vision

It is in this context, I believe that any transport policy in Sri Lanka should be based on public-private partnership. Any such policy should be created to motivate the building of people centric transport solutions.

What should be our vision?

*We must recognize that people occupy centre-stage in our cities, towns and villages and all plans should be for their common benefit and well-being.

*We must incorporate urban transportation as an important parameter at the urban planning stage rather than a consequential requirement;

*We must bring about a more equitable allocation of road space with people rather than vehicles as its main focus;

*We must encourage a greater use of public transport and non-motorized modes by offering government financial assistance for the development of infrastructure and operation;

*We must establish quality focused multi-modal public transport systems that are well integrated, providing seamless travel across modes.

In a nutshell, any transport strategy should provide and promote sustainable high quality links for people, goods, and services to, from and within the city or village to benefit economic growth. It should integrate transport, spatial and economic development policies, to ensure sustainable access for people and goods. And finally, such a strategy should ensure that the development of the transport system contributes to the protection and enhancement of the natural and built environment.