Better road infrastructure needed to improve productivity
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The recent discussion on the traffic conditions in Colombo and suburban roads has become very popular with many people discussing the need and methods of controlling traffic.
Road traffic conditions have worsened in the recent past with the increase of the number of vehicles on the road and more importantly due to road infrastructure not improving up to the current day needs.
It is important to note the impact that the transportation sector improvement will have on the development of any country. Road traffic discipline is also one of the yardsticks used worldwide to create a good impression and image of a country.
Any sensible person understands and realises the importance of the transportation sector and the influence of movement of persons and goods from one place to another in the development of a country.
However, it is sad to see our road infrastructure is not keeping up to the need of the times compared to other developed and even developing countries in the world. A good example would be India where the road infrastructure has developed to a reasonable level with elevated roads, flyovers and overhead bridges even in relatively underdeveloped cities such as Chennai.
It would be an interesting exercise for someone to do a research to find out why people buy vehicles in Sri Lanka. I am confident that such a study will prove the fact that a majority of the people buy a vehicle as it has become a basic requirement because of Sri Lanka’s poor public transportation system. When a new couple gets married today one of the main dreams would be to purchase a vehicle, even a two wheeler depending on their lifestyle and affordability. It will be very hard to find people buying vehicles for fun other than in the top end of the market which is a minority.
In this background it is the responsibility of the government to identify the basic needs of road infrastructure and means of managing road traffic conditions and draw out an action plan to achieve measurable goals that will be set up.
One main issue facing those who use the road today is the road discipline of fellow drivers and their selfish nature of behaviour on the road. For this, how many times have we seen two/three wheelers and even some four wheel drivers cutting across selfishly to change lanes and to suddenly change positions? It may be true that they are also frustrated due to congestion all over as some of these drivers are on the road all day unlike many other drivers.
The other major causative factors apart from road infrastructure (especially the capacity of roads) for indiscipline are the passenger crossings and the cross roads. It would be interesting to count the number of passenger crossings on a road such as the Galle road or the Baseline road. In my view all these crossings immensely contribute to the slow movement of traffic and block the roads most of the time. It is time that the government converts these crossings to overhead bridges or underground tunnels with escalators for easy movement of the pedestrians. This is one of the more important measures that prove to be very productive in terms of pay back and with the improvement of traffic conditions the standard of living will improve, reduce stress factor among drivers, and the country will make a considerable saving on the fuel bill. As per our experience up to 25 per cent saving on fuel can be achieved when traffic conditions improve. The best proof of this is the fuel consumption of an average car in the conditions of city driving versus the long distance driving. In addition this will also have a positive impact on the overall productivity of the country.
The other major negative factor is the vehicles having to travel across the main roads, such as the crossings in Orugodawatta where the low level road crosses the Baseline road due to which the traffic builds up on both sides to an unbelievable level causing severe congestion.
This is an issue that has to be addressed as done in many other countries by building an elevated road along Baseline road or by building an overhead bridge in critical locations across the road. A mere restriction, in import of new vehicles will only contribute to higher degree of waste as the cost of managing a 10 year-old vehicle could be much higher than the cost of replacing a new one be it for an individual or a nation as a whole.
It is crucial that the authorities have a clear idea on how productivity of the country can get affected due to mismanaged traffic conditions, its contribution to waste, environment pollution, the overall impact on the quality of life of people and take immediate measures to draw out proper plans to manage this serious issue quickly.
(The writer is a former chairman of the Motor Traders Association and can be reached at gihanpilapitiya @unitedmotors.lk)