Transportation and the people

Some years back, the creaking infrastructure of a developing country in Asia where traffic jams were a way of life and motorists brought books to read, was tackled by building more highways and flyovers. Did that solve the problem of congestion and too many vehicles for too fewer a space? No, as the space expanded the number of vehicles increased. Neither will increasing flyovers as planned here solve the problem.

That's exactly the point that Prof Amal Kumarage, Chairman of the National Transport Commission and the country's leading problem-solver on traffic management, is making and has done for many years. However no one seems to be listening.

Prof Kumarage and his team have been knocking on the doors of various governments for the past 10 years with a comprehensive plan to reduce congestion and give prominence to people and pedestrians rather than vehicles. Unfortunately this hasn't worked for many reasons, politics being one of him. But he also says, "There are politicians who sincerely want to implement plans to develop a proper traffic management scheme but at that time the technical people are missing. When the technical expertise is available, the politicians are not interested."

His model is simple and on the lines of modern cities like Singapore, Hong Kong and now Britain: improve public transport, make it comfortable and convenient, raise taxes of private vehicles flowing into the city, to deter the numbers. The cost then reduces the number of private vehicles and the efficiency of public transport improves as successfully proven in many countries.

In a comprehensive presentation to The Sunday Times Business Club this week, Kumarage spoke extensively of a game-plan to tackle the city's traffic congestion which he has been trying to sell without much success. However, he said, proposed new laws were on the drawing board and hopefully expected it to be implemented, finally. But he prefaced his presentation with the ominous words that confronts many a dedicated professional in the country - "What I am going to present to you is a nice set of plans that would efficiently manage traffic in the city. But I must also tell you that plans are nice, implementation is the problem."

Very true. There are dozens of true professionals who have worked their heart and soul in developing plans that would solve many of the country's problems - be it social, economic or governance. But it never got off the ground either because the politicians didn't back it or bureaucracy got in the way.

Prof Kumarage's biggest worry: that the best of plans will vanish into thin air whenever there is a change of government. "We all know this happens," he says, adding with a little confidence however that, "that's why we want to prepare legislation to make it happen so that it would continue, whether we are there or not."

Continuity in policy has been the bane of Sri Lankan politics. For that matter it is a problem confronted by many of the struggling nations in the world. Issues like health, education and transportation need consistency and national policies that cut across the political divide. And for that we are yet to see a set of Sri Lankan politicians from diverse backgrounds and parties who are prepared to set aside their differences and work towards national plans for health, education and transportation.

The Sri Lankan transportation expert's panacea for all ills in the transport sector is not a magical solution to create pedestrian-friendly roads or less bumper-to-bumper traffic. Rather it's a tried and tested model in most cities that have gone the way of Sri Lanka. Closer home for example, New Delhi some weeks back created special lanes for buses only and after some opposition from motorists, most people welcomed the plan. It has cleared congestion and improved traffic flows.

It's not rocket science, as Prof Kumarage argues, to prepare a plan to improve transportation in the city. Rather it's the will of politicians, the bureaucracy and the people to make it work. For example, are private car users prepared to leave their cars at home and use comfortable and efficient buses and trains to get to work or for other commuting? Everyone loves to own a car and that's human nature. However if it is quicker to get to point A from point B by bus and cheaper too, would one take this option?

Air conditioned buses at higher-than-the normal bus fares; comfortable bus terminals where people can relax, read newspapers that are provided, munch a snack or watch TV while waiting for a bus; bigger spaces to walk for pedestrians, making it costlier to enter the city for private car owners, considerably reducing travel time because there are less vehicles on the roads, are all part of these plans. But will the policymakers listen?

Prof Kumarage is hopefully confident. "If public transport is efficient, then I am sure more people using private cars will use buses or trains." He also made a valid point: the organised private sector (big companies) is not interested in investing in public transport unlike in other countries and this is a negative in the Sri Lankan context.

Thus, rather than blaming politicians and the government, the organised private sector and communities must work together towards a more efficient traffic system in the city.