Fast lane to success | Daily News

Fast lane to success

Judging by all accounts, the recent “priority bus lane” experiment on the Rajagiriya-Borella stretch has become a success. There was traffic chaos on the first day as the other drivers faced a steep learning curve but thereafter the experiment has showed benefits for all road users.

Sri Lanka is late to the “bus lane” party. Many other countries, even developing ones, dedicate a separate lane for buses at least during the rush hours. This streamlines the flow of buses and also allows other traffic to move without being hindered by buses which usually hog all lanes. The transport authorities, Traffic Police and the traffic experts at the University of Moratuwa must be commended for this initiative which is supported by Korean experts who have implemented a similar system in Seoul.

Before we dwell further on this subject, consider this statistic – on an average weekday, one million people enter Colombo by 30,000 buses. An equal number of people use more than 500,000 vehicles to enter Colombo daily. The disparity is immediately clear - most private vehicles have only one or two occupants. This is an almost criminal wastage of fuel and money, not counting the effects on the environment. The result is chronic traffic congestion, as all types of vehicles battle for limited road space.

Thus the bus lane experiment has several objectives. One is reducing traffic congestion and speeding up bus traffic. This gives workers an opportunity to go to their workplaces on time. The other, even more important factor is that it should encourage motorists to give up their cars and use public transport. If a bus can reach Colombo from Malabe in say, 45 minutes, why use 45 more minutes to go the same distance?

But more changes are necessary before public transport can entice more passengers. The buses should be more comfortable, with more disciplined and courteous crews. Private bus drivers are notorious for reckless driving and along with three wheeler drivers, take the top spot for accidents. If these traits can be corrected, more people will opt to take the bus. The other option is to have a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system – in fact, the Government is already looking at building a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system for Colombo.

There is no doubt that depending on the success of this pilot bus lane project, it would be extended to other major arterial roads and also to office and school vans. The next step is to convert this to a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, where buses can actually use the left lane of the opposing side of the road to pick up and drop passengers at “centre island” bus halts. It is essentially a train system without the trains, with all infrastructure such as terminals and stations, gates, sidewalks, warning and direction signs, and pedestrian crossing facilities. Other countries in the region are already leapfrogging into the BRT era – for example, Manila will have a BRT by 2022.

Lest we forget, Colombo already had a “BRT” system a long time ago – (from 1900 to 1960) – the all electric tram line. The killing off of the tram network in Colombo was one of the most imprudent decisions ever made.

This is also the time to examine the usefulness of some of the uniflow roads in Colombo, which have added unnecessary detours to most commutes. For example, the Maradana-Technical Junction uniflow makes absolutely no sense, as it puts all traffic going out of Colombo on one narrow road. A similar situation can be experienced on the Vilasitha Nivasa-Kirulapone-Pamankada stretch during rush hours. Bus passengers are severely inconvenienced, as they sometimes have to get off almost one kilometre away from their intended address. One alternative is to allow buses to ply against the traffic on uniflow streets, but this calls for far greater discipline among drivers of all vehicles.

The authorities should also consider marking High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes to allow only those vehicles with two or more passengers to use the fast lane during the morning and evening rush hour. Many countries have HOV lanes and single occupant vehicles (i.e. only the driver) are not allowed to use this lane. Those who violate this rule are fined heavily. The authorities should encourage carpooling through such measures and ride ailing services such as Uber also make it easy to find a partner for one’s morning drive to work. Some countries impose a heavy surcharge on single occupant vehicles entering the busiest part of the main cities during weekdays.

Developing public transport is essential if we are keen on reducing traffic congestion. Exports have already expressed fears that traffic could crawl to just 3 Km/h on roads leading to Colombo in a few years at present vehicle registration rates. Everyone aspires to buy a vehicle because public transport options are limited and inconvenient. If we have more comfortable, safer, punctual and cleaner public transport options, more people will keep their cars at home on weekdays, making a ride into Colombo a breeze. 


There is 1 Comment

Add new comment