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Park-and-ride and more traffic police presence to ease city traffic congestion
As working from home due to pandemic threat is gradually ending and more people reporting to work, Colombo city and suburbs are attracting crowds bringing back bitter memories of being stuck for hours in traffic.
Lanka's first smart bus service: Pix by Indika Handuwela
“The absence of school traffic has reduced heavy traffic congestion, but traffic police are gearing up for more crowds coming to Colombo for work from tomorrow ending a long weekend,” said Director Traffic Police Senior Superintendent of Police, Indika Hapugoda.
He said more traffic police officers will be deployed from this week, as roads in Colombo will experience a surge in traffic after many months.
Meanwhile, in a bid to reduce Colombo’s traffic congestion in the long run, the previously failed park and ride system was introduced again. This time equipped with technology and more bus fleet, the Government, starting from tomorrow, aims to bring down the number of motorbikes and private vehicles entering the city.
On Friday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa inaugurated the first phase of the latest Park and Ride city bus service at the Makumbura multimodal transport centre in Kottawa.
National Transport Commission (NTC) Director General Commander (Retd) Nilan Miranda said the park and ride would have advantages such as having limited stops, luxury low floor, air-condition, and it charges only twice the normal bus fee while allowing only limited number of passengers in keeping with COVID-19 health guidelines.
“This is a project included in the President’s manifesto and one of the world’s tried and tested methods to ease traffic. This time with the app the passenger will be able to locate the closest bus, check the time table and charges, and the time duration to reach the destination,” he said.
Temperature of a passenger being checked before she boards the bus
At present there are two bus routes — C-001 Makumbura-Nugegoda-Pettah-Rajagiriya-Battaramulla-Makumbura and C-002 Makumbura-Maharagama-Narahenpita-Slave Island-Bambalapitiya-Nugegoda-Makumbura.
He said these two routes are a part of the pilot project with plans to increase more bus routes.
Mr. Miranda said the previous park and ride service failed a few years ago due to the lack of parking space in Moratuwa, limited number of taxi services to move around the city and the absence of facilities such as apps and smart bus stops.
“The Army is building solar-powered smart bus stops exclusive for park-and-ride passengers. The intention is not to compete with public transport but to limit the number of private vehicles coming to the city,” he said.
