By Don Asoka Wijewardena
In a bid to reduce traffic and travel time, the Transport Ministry would launch a project to introduce Low-Floor A/C buses on six routes. The Ministry had identified Moratuwa – Pettah, Kesbewa – Pettah, Negombo – Pettah, Gampaha – Pettah, Kaduwela – Fort (via Malabe) and Homagama – Pettah as the main corridors to the Colombo city.
The main objective of the project was to attract passengers using individual vehicles to adopt public transport. Though city buses were a new concept to Sri Lanka, Asian countries such as Singapore, Indian, Thailand, Malaysia and many other countries worldwide had been operating such buses over the last decade, Secretary to the Transport Ministry Dammika Perera told The Island in a brief interview.
Perera pointed out that as pilot project two low-floor A/C buses, Volvo and TATA, each on Moratuwa – Pettah and Negombo – Pettah had been successfully in operation for the last six months at a fare of two and half times above the normal fare per passenger. Under SLTB supervision the Micro Cars Ltd would operate eight low-floor A/C buses on Moratuwa – Negombo via Pettah (59 k.m.) on regular basis. As a measure to address the acute traffic congestion in Pettah, the commercial hub in Colombo, transport services on Negombo –Pettah and Moratuwa – Pettah would be extended as uninterrupted service from Moratuwa – Negombo via Pettah and vice versa.
The Transport Ministry had also invited the private sector to take part in operating luxury railway services in cooperation with Sri Lanka Railways, he said
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=44769
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