Another 1,000 buses to 'Sisu Seriya' fleet

Irangika Range

Private Transport Services Minister C.B. Ratnayake said 1,000 new buses would be added to the fleet of the 'Sisu Seriya' school bus fleet shortly.

He said the Private Transport Ministry has planned to extend the Sisu Seriya school bus service to the nine provinces to provide a special school bus service exclusively for school children and teachers to enable them to attend schools safely, economically and without physical or mental harassment during travel to and from school.

The minister was speaking at a ceremony at the National Transport Commission (NTC) yesterday, to handover 57 new buses for the Sisu Seriya school bus service. "The NTC in conjunction with the Western Province Passenger Transport Authority has initiated the programe of deploying 100 school buses under the Sisu Seriya project in the Western Province and the balance of 43 buses will be added to the Sisu Seriya fleet before November 10th," he said.

The services of private owned bus operators and the Sri Lanka Transport Board will be utilized for the Sisu Seriya programme. He said 625 SLTB buses and 259 private buses have already been deployed to implement the 'Sisu Seriya school bus service. Around 80,000 schoolchildren currently use the Sisu Seriya bus service daily.

NTC chairman Roshan Gunawardene said the objective of the project is to provide a proper school transport service to the students for a nominal fee and minimize the traffic congestion in and around Colombo and the suburbs during school hours.

" A student over 12 years will be charged half the normal fare, while a student under 12 years will be charged a quarter of the normal bus fare,he said.

'As a result of the improved security situation, parents tend to send children to schools in school buses rather than by private vans,"he said.

He said plans are afoot to provide free bicycles to school children in remote areas as well.