Private buses will continue operations as long as there are no hindrances—without any congestion. However, if lane rules are implemented and the movement of private buses is hampered in any way, they would be removed from operation, Lanka Private Bus Owners' Association President Gemunu Wijeratne, told the Daily News.
He said the lane rule enforced by the police is an utter failure, and that it had only served to further complicate the traffic congestion. “Yesterday, we did not face any traffic blocks as the motorcycles and three-wheelers had been assigned a separate lane. However, if we have to face traffic congestion as we did when the lane rule was implemented, we will definitely pull out of operations.”
He said that the Lanka Private Bus Owners' Association had planned to invest in low-floor buses, but under the current situation, where they allege that the police is hampering their operations, a decision had been taken not to invest in low floor buses at this stage.
According to Wijeratne, the solution to the traffic congestion is not merely implementing the lane rule. “Merely implementing the lane rule is insufficient to address the traffic congestion on our roads; we have discussed this with the government and the relevant authorities. In order to reduce congestion, it is vital to change the school times by dividing the times into two sections,” he said.
“Furthermore, even office times need to be changed where private sector and state sector off times are divided in order to ease the traffic blocks. Heavy vehicles should be restricted on main roads, especially during peak rush hours. These are the ways that solutions to the traffic congestion issue needs to be found and not by merely herding all the buses, three-wheelers, and motorcycles onto one lane and accommodating only the private vehicles to operate smoothly,” Wijeratne added.
“The police is also playing havoc. Hence, without proper mechanisms in place, we will not invest in better buses in order to improve the private bus service. We cannot invest when we have to face this uncertain future,” he said.
