Improving public transport as a solution for traffic congestion: Attitudes first

Traffic congestion has become the main transport problem in major cities of Sri Lanka.  
The government statistics shows that the total vehicle population has increased from 3.39 
million in 2008 to 6.33 million in 2015.

By Samarakoon G.S., Weerasinghe W.M.J.P., Kosgoda K.M.D.L., Vimarshani H.K.M 

 A study done by W.J. Weerawardana about Colombo states that 65% of the road space is used by 38% of the passengers.  

Thus it is clear that the increase in the use of private vehicles is the major cause of traffic congestion. 
One solution for the traffic congestion is improving road capacity but most of the roads 
in cities which have high traffic congestions have already reached their maximum capacity by 
widening as much as possible.  
 

The congestion arises as people shift towards private transport from public transport. Therefore another solution for the high congestion of traffic is improving public transport.  As buses can carry 40-50 passengers per bus, it will help reduce the no. of vehicles on the road, thus making usage of road space more efficient.   

The reasons for this shift of people towards private transportation modes are mainly the level of service provided and preconceived notions or attitudes of people.

 The fact that level of service provided by the public transportation sector is low is the widely accepted opinion in the present Sri Lankan society.  Results of a recent survey done on travel characteristics of school teachers indicating their opinion about public transportation is shown in the chart below. 

Therefore overall satisfaction about the level of service provided by public transportation sector is average in the people’s opinion.  With respect to that, opinions about private transport and transits, is as follows. 

As you can see, even though the cost, safety and in some cases waiting time is said to be ‘very bad’ majority still prefers private transport and transits.  In the same survey, Reasons for choosing bus as their transport mode was also questioned. Following pie chart shows the results. 

You can see that the main reason for their choice is economic reasons.  Further analysis also showed that as the travel distance increases more and more people tend to use public transportation modes.  
 
 Therefore it can be concluded that people tend to use public transport modes more when they travel long distances and that it is more economical than the alternatives.  For a long distance travel, a normal passenger takes comfort levels into account when deciding on their transport mode.  Based on that, it can also be derived that buses are not as uncomfortable as the public opinion say. 

So why does buses have an exaggerated bad reputation when it is more economical?  The answer is the attitudes of the people.  People associate usage of private transport modes and transits with being posh and wealthy.  The brand of the vehicle you use has become associated with your social status.  Tangles in all of this, people have forgotten the real issue that it contributes to high traffic congestion and associated problems such as environmental pollution and that the solution is increasing vehicle occupancy. 
 Therefore, to solve the traffic congestion problem, improving only public transport standards is not enough. Attitudes of people should also be improved.  

References 
• Total Vehicle population 2008 – 2015. Department of motor traffic, Sri Lanka. • Weerawardana W.J., Reduction of traffic congestion in Colombo city by improving public bus 
transport.
​ • Survey done by Department of Transport & Logistic Management, University of Moratuwa.