Sri Lanka’s private bus service is to be amalgamated with the SLTB
Sri Lanka ‘s private bus service is to be amalgamated with the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) to provide a better service for commuters , private and public transport sector officials said.
Transport Ministry officials said that the private buses will operate with an SLTB logo under a common time table with SLTB buses.
The new initiative is aimed at providing an efficient service with disciplined conductors and drivers treating commuters in a proper manner without harassing them unnecessarily, President of Sri Lanka Passenger Bus Owners Association, Gemunu Wijeratne said.
He revealed that this new bus service will be operated under a SLTB administration in a private-public partnership arrangement and the bus ticket checking will be carried out by SLTB checkers.
A senior official of the Transport Ministry said that Minister Kumar Welgama held extensive discussions with representatives of private bus owners unions this week and the modalities of the joint bus service will be worked out shortly.
However a senior member of the All Island Transport Employees Union said that the public and private sector common bus service and the proposed joint time table will eventually destroy the SLTB.
He reiterated that the common private and public bus service which is already in operation in several areas is running at a loss.
He added that the new initiative is aimed at dissolving the SLTB and handing over the operation to the private sector with 22,500 buses. Several commuters said that the nationalisation of the bus service in 1958 under the SWRD Bandaranaike regime and privatisation of the service by J.R. Jayewardene regime had both failed to provide expected results.
Meanwhile, the Transport Ministry is also looking at the possibility of introducing a pre-paid card system for the public transport sector. The Ministry said that a detailed study is currently being conducted to explore the possibility of introducing the system by 2013.
The proposed pre-paid card system will ensure passengers get correct amount of change money and also an assurance to bus owners that the bus conductors do not engage in fraudulent practices.
The National Transport Commission (NTC) has been instructed to begin a study on the probable implementation of the proposed pre-paid system.
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