formulation of policy framework for poverty … · 2015-03-18 · such a >bi-focal = vision is...

FORMULATION OF POLICY FRAMEWORK

FOR

POVERTY ALLEVIATION:

TRANSPORTATION

Report Submitted to UNDP Colombo

Amal S. Kumarage,

Dept. of Civil Engineering,

University of Moratuwa,

Sri Lanka.

October, 1998

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Rationale ............................................................................................................................. 1

1.2 Methodology and Limitations ............................................................................................. 2

1.3 Conceptual Issues in Transport and Impact on the Poor ..................................................... 2

1.3.1 Availability of Transport ....................................................................................... 2

1.3.2 Affordability of Transport ..................................................................................... 3

1.3.3 Safety in Transport for the Poor............................................................................. 4

1.3.4 Mobility of Women ............................................................................................... 5

1.3.5 Employment ........................................................................................................... 5

2. CRITICAL ISSUES IN TRANSPORT & POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS ............................................. 6

2.1 Transport Infrastructure ...................................................................................................... 6

2.1.1 Road Sector ............................................................................................................ 6

2.1.2 Railways .............................................................................................................. 12

2.2 Transport Services ............................................................................................................ 14

2.2.1 Bus Transport Services ........................................................................................ 14

2.2.2 Goods Transport .................................................................................................. 21

2.3 Pricing of Transport .......................................................................................................... 22

2.3.1 Low Fares in Public Transport ............................................................................. 22

2.3.2 Unregulated Fares in Higher Quality Bus Transport ........................................... 22

2.3.3 Subsidies and Financial Assistance for Transport for the Poor ........................... 23

2.3.4 Price of Fuel ......................................................................................................... 23

2.3.5 Taxing of Vehicles ............................................................................................... 23

2.4 Promotion of Low Cost Vehicles ...................................................................................... 24

2.4.1 Bicycles ................................................................................................................ 24

2.4.2 Three Wheelers .................................................................................................... 25

2.4.3 Non-Conventional Vehicles ................................................................................. 25

2.5 Safety in Transport for the Poor ........................................................................................ 25

2.5.1 Highway Design & Maintenance ......................................................................... 25

2.5.2 Maintenance of Pedestrian Facilities ................................................................... 26

2.5.3 Safety in Public Transport ................................................................................... 26

2.5.4 Compensation ...................................................................................................... 26

2.6 Transport Requirements of Women .................................................................................. 27

2.7 Employment Generation ................................................................................................... 27

2.7.1 Employment in Rural Road Construction & Maintenance .................................. 27

2.7.2 Training in Vehicle Operating Skills ................................................................... 27

3. CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................... 28

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Non Motorised Users among Fatal and Injury Accidents ................................................................ 4

Table 2 Sri Lanka=s Road Network Density (Province Density) ................................................................. 8

Table 3 Comparison of Productivity & Performance of Private Buses Vs. PTS ........................................ 17

Table 4 Comparison of Cost Passenger Carriage by Private and State Sector (RTCs)............................... 18

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Transport Affordability Pyramid ........................................................................................ 3

Figure 2 Growth of Road Length & Vehicle Stock ........................................................................... 6

Figure 3 Access - Hierarchy Between Urban Centers ....................................................................... 9

Figure 4 Road Network Proposed for Colombo Metropolitan Region .......................................... 11

Figure 5 Proposed Limited Access Highway Network ................................................................... 13

Figure 6 Growth in Bus Travel ....................................................................................................... 15

Figure 7 Bus Cost and Fares (1958 - 98)........................................................................................ 19

Figure 8 New Bus Additions & Load Factors ................................................................................. 20

Figure 9 Cost of Petrol & Diesel (1958 - 97) .................................................................................. 24

PREFACE

This paper is prepared for the joint UNDP-World Bank Project on Formulation of Policy

Framework for Poverty Alleviation, 1998. It comprises a brief description of the transport issues

relating to poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka. It is a summary of the authors= paper titled

>Transport & Poverty Alleviation in Sri Lanka= (Kumarage, 1998). A comprehensive

literature review is also to be found in the afore mentioned paper.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Assistance from UNDP under Service Contract No: SC 98/43 is gratefully acknowledged. The

paper has been enriched by the presentations and discussions of participants at the seminars of

the Poverty Alleviation Project. Comments and contributions made by members of the

Technical Committee and in particular, Dr. Harsha Athurupana together with editorial assistance

from Ms. Premala de Mel are also gratefully acknowledged.

Poverty Alleviation, Sri Lanka : Transport Executive Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The strategy for transport from a poverty alleviation perspective should essentially have a dual

focus. On the one hand, it should attempt at providing the infrastructure and services necessary

to sustain a rapid economic growth over the short term. On the other hand, it should provide

adequate protection to the poor who should not be deprived from access to essential services or

employment opportunities or be exposed to new and increased dangers arising from the

provision of increased transport services.

Such a >bi-focal= strategy within the dual objectives of economic growth and social equity, is

considered to be the most balanced and progressive policy framework that could be

recommended for poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka. This paper in chapter 1, identifies and

examines a number of conceptual issues in the transport sector which are considered to present

significant obstacles to efforts taken towards poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka. It examines

several pro-poor policies that have been pursed since independence and their effectiveness and

relevance today. The issues of availability of transport infrastructure & services, its affordability

for the poor have been discussed together with potential for employment in the transport sector.

A discussion is also found on specific problems of safety encountered by the poor. Special

consideration is given to discussion of the transport needs of women.

In chapter 2, the paper identifies and formulates a number of critical issues, each of which are

discussed in the background of the wider conceptual issues regarding transport and the poor. The

issues within each of the sub sectors of transport such as roads, railways, bus transport, goods

transport have been dealt with separately. The issues of pricing and taxation, safety and

employment where they present as obstacles to poverty alleviation have also been discussed.

In its conclusions, the paper lists these critical issues and suggests possible solutions and

mitigatory actions for each of them. This list could then provide a basis for further considerations

in terms of policy formulation and project formulation that could be considered together with

initiatives for poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka.

Poverty Alleviation, Sri Lanka : Transport Introduction

1

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Sri Lanka=s modern day internal transport is mostly provided by road and rail. The origins of

both these networks date back to the period of colonial occupation. The rail and road networks in

Ceylon, as it was known then, as it was in most other countries of colonial occupation, were

primarily created for the purpose of exporting produce. Colombo being the principal port city,

had a network of roads and railways radiating from it to all other parts of the country. Export of

tea produced in the hill country, rubber in Sabaragamuwa and coconut in the coastal areas was

the primary rationale for the extension of the rail network in the late 19th century and early part

of the 20th century. It could be stated that the rail and road networks in the pre-independence era

(prior to 1948), were developed under an export-oriented policy and paved the way for national

and regional economic growth of that period.

Since independence, Sri Lanka=s implicit >transport policy= has been directed towards (a) the

promotion of rural accessibility by providing new roads and new bus services and (b)

maintaining low fares in public transport. In contrast to the early developments, these efforts in

the post-independent era were more welfare-oriented and less concentrated on economic growth.

Goods transport which is dominated by road haulage, has been largely in the hands of the

private sector, after early attempts at protecting the carriage of certain items of produce by the

railways. Public transport which had been exclusively with the private sector prior to

independence, has seen various forms of State undertakings as well as private sector participation

since then. Private transport is provided by a vehicle fleet of nearly 1 million motorised vehicles

made up of two, three and four wheelers and a further estimated 2 million bicycles. Para

transport is unregulated and provided by mostly the informal sector in the form of three wheeler

taxis, school and office transport services.

1.1 Rationale

The transport sector in its present form could be identified as one of the primary constraints

preventing rapid economic growth in Sri Lanka. The absence of high mobility inter-regional

transport, the deteriorating quality of public transport and the increasing road congestion are

some of the problem areas identified as critical issues.

The >do-nothing= scenario for the transport sector is anticipated to have had a significantly

retarding effect on the growth of the economy as both transport infrastructure and delivery

services are lag behind other sectors such as telecommunications and power.

The most severely impacted from such a scenario would be the poor, who would be increasingly

isolated from opportunities of employment, access to essential services as a result of

deteriorating transport services and poor quality roads.

The vision for transport development from a poverty alleviation perspective is considered to


2

require a dual focus. On the one hand, it should attempt to provide the infrastructure and

services necessary to sustain rapid economic growth over the short term. On the other hand, it

should provide adequate protection to the poor who should not be deprived from essential access

or employment opportunities, or be exposed to new and increasing dangers arising from the

provision of increased transport services.

Such a >bi-focal= vision is considered in this paper to be the most balanced and progressive

policy framework for poverty alleviation within the dual objectives of economic growth and

social equity.

1.2 Methodology and Limitations

The paper is based on analysis of

published data on the transport sector

in Sri Lanka and a number of

research publications referred to in

detail in >Transport & Poverty

Alleviation in Sri Lanka= (Kumarage,

1998a). Most of the data available is

aggregate except for a limited amount

of data from the Household

Expenditure Surveys. Since, reliable

desegregate data would only be available from the Integrated Survey to be undertaken next year,

this paper bases its findings on the data reported in the annual reports and macro statistics on

the performance of the transport sector. The analysis is focused on areas of the transport sector

issues (Box 1) which directly and indirectly impact the conditions of the poor in Sri Lanka.

These are identified on the basis of critical requirements of mobility and accessibility that affect

and prevent the poor from improving their circumstances.

1.3 Conceptual Issues in Transport and Impact on the Poor

1.3.1 Availability of Transport

Availability of transport is essential for the poor. It is likely that they may not have access to

other forms of speedy communication such as telephones. The objective of ensuring reasonable

availability of transport infrastructure has the following benefits for the poor:

C improves access to information on job opportunities and relief assistance programs,

C facilitates access to jobs outside the community.

C improves access to raw materials and markets and thereby reduces the cost of transport

for both the input and output, so that the product of the labours of the poor are more

competitive,

Box 1: Issues in a transport sector development strategy for poverty alleviation. C increased availability, C increased affordability, C greater safety, C improved mobility for women

and C greater employment generation.


3

C improves land values, (particularly in remote areas) as the productivity and profitability

increases,

C improves the value of human resources in remote communities,

C improves access to health education and technology and

C improves access to educational and health facilities.

The availability of transport has two basic dimensions. The first is the requirement for transport

infrastructure. This would mean the provision of different types (quality) of roads and railways.

The second would be the requirement for a transport delivery service. This would include public

transport services, goods transport and private vehicles and other matters related to their

operation.

1.3.2 Affordability of Transport

The concept of affordability of transport has two basic determinants. On the one hand, it could

be interpreted in terms of social equity, where it could be held that basic transport facilities

should be available to the entire cross section of the population, in order to use an affordable

mode of transport. On the other hand, is the argument that investment in transport infrastructure

and services should be made providing affordable access to jobs, markets and services for all

income groups, such that their participation in the economic process of the country is not

marginalised.

The cost of transport, is usually related to the cost of investment of the vehicle. A bicycle, which

needs a lower initial capital will cost less per km than a motor cycle, which is more costly to own

and operate. Thus, the poor cannot be

expected to own costly vehicles and hence

be captive to either public transport or non-

motorised transport vehicles for their daily

necessities of mobility of persons and goods.

A typical distribution of the affordability by

transport modes for households in Sri Lanka

is given in Figure 1. This clearly identifies

pedestrians, bicycles (and other non-

motorised means such as carts) and

buses/trains as the affordable modes of

transport for the lowest 20% of the income

groups. The affordability of travel then

needs to be discussed in terms of the cost of

public transport and the price of low cost private transport.

The percentage of household expenditure on transport (and communications) has increased from


4

5.0% in 1980/81 to 6.1% in 1995/96. This indicates the possible increases in mobility as well as

the increasing use of superior modes of travel. However, these hypothesis needs to be examined

with the possibility of increasing the real cost of transport.

1.3.3 Safety in Transport for the Poor

A distressing aspect of transport in Sri Lanka is that it has become increasingly unsafe for the

poor. As passengers in public transport, the high load factors and scant enforcement of road

worthiness of vehicles has resulted in many passengers especially those captive to bus transport

having to take excessive risks when travelling.

The question of safety also arises in the design of roads. When space for right of way on roads is

limited, there has been a tendency in past years, that more space is provided for motorised

transport whenever roads are rehabilitated or widened, but very often at the expense of a

reduction of space for pedestrians. The alarming feature of this has been the foreign funded

rehabilitation of National Highways of which around 600 kms have been completed. In all these

cases, the donor agencies have refused to acquire the additional right of way required for

pedestrian facilities. The highway designers have thus paved almost the entire exiting right of

way, thus leaving little space for pedestrians. Although, not analysed as yet, the accidents on

these roads are reported to have increased several fold, with the highest incidents being amongst

pedestrians and cyclists.

Category

Number of Accidents 1992 (% of all accidents)

Fatal

Grievous

Injury

Non-Grievous

Injury

Total

Accidents Pedestrian

528 (33%)

842 (35%)

4,782 (38%)

8,618 (23%)

Cyclist

231 (15%)

251 (10%)

1,862 (15%)

3,480 (9%)

All Categories

1,577

2,395

12,580

37,495

Table 1: Non-motorised Users among Fatal and Injury Accidents

It is seen from Table 1 that between 50-60% of all fatal or injury accidents involve a pedestrian

or cyclist. This proportion is high and adds to over 7,000 people being injured, over 1,000

grievously injured and a further 750 killed.

It is essential that safety precautions for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport passengers

should be improved. Without adequate safety, there is a reluctance to travel. This is important,

since in the event of an accident, wherein serious injury or death occurs, it is rarely that the poor

are adequately compensated. Moreover, the loss of a breadwinner causes severe hardship to poor

families.


5

1.3.4 Mobility of Women

A preliminary survey of rural transport in Sri Lanka (RDSC, 1993) has revealed that domestic

travel which is mostly undertaken by women on foot, is mainly for the purpose of transporting

water, followed by trips to the mill, local market and for the collection of firewood. A woman in

the dry zone spends an average of 49 hours per week on domestic travel.

Presently, it is reported that the female participation rate in the work force is 32% and

unemployment 16%. It is believed that among the primary reasons for the poor-participation of

women in the work force and the high unemployment amongst them, are the difficulties faced

with regard to travel. This is acute amongst the poor, where the women spend a significant

proportion of their time attending to domestic chores. Greater mobility amongst women would

to improve their living conditions considerably.

Conservative attitudes regarding the mobility of women have led to a lack of skills development

in bicycle riding amongst poorer women in most parts of the country, thus preventing them from

a speedier form of low cost transport. The position of women in public transport has also been of

much concern in recent times. The lack of discipline of bus crews and the high over-loading

factor have caused distress to women owing to incidents of sexual harassment.

1.3.5 Employment Opportunities

One of the positive outcomes of providing mobility and access needs for people, is the

employment opportunities that could arise from the construction and maintenance of the

transport infrastructure and the operation of transport services. Sri Lanka which has high

unemployment requires to consider the potential employment generation, while considering

transport sector development. This is important since (a) different modes of transport require

different intensities of labour and (b) the skills level of the employment required for different

modes are varied. It is estimated that there are nearly 500,000 persons in direct employment in

the transport sector.

Poverty Alleviation, Sri Lanka : Transport Critical Issues & Solutions

6

CHAPTER TWO : CRITICAL ISSUES IN TRANSPORT & POSSIBLE

SOLUTIONS

2.1 Transport Infrastructure

The growth of the physical infrastructure has to keep pace with the growth of the economy. In

the case of the internal transport infrastructure, this would include roads and railways.

2.1.1 Road Sector

Extensive road building after independence was primarily aimed at providing access to rural

and resettlement areas. As shown in Figure 2, there has been sustained growth of around 3.4%

p.a. in the lower order roads (Classes C, D & E) at the expense of virtual stagnation of the top

order road hierarchy, where the A & B Class road length grew only at 1.3% p.a. When

compared to average GDP growth of 5.1% p.a. and vehicle stock growth of 6.8% p.a., clearly

the roads at the

top end of the

hierarchy have

had insufficient

growth. This

clearly indicates

the policy of

providing

extensive rural

road systems,

which were seen

more in terms of

welfare measure

for rural and

remote

communities as

opposed to

specific

economic

growth

strategies.

While this policy achieved most of the desired objectives of providing rural accessability and

associated improvements in the quality of life, it has effectively prevented the construction of

modern limited access roads between urban centers and improved traffic management systems

within urban centres.

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Year

1952 1953 1959 1971 1978 1990 1996

A & B Roads (km)

Other Roads (km)

Vehicle Stock

GDP in constant Rs.

Growth of Road Length & Vehicle Stock ( 1959 Base = 100 )


7

An analysis of the present road network is given in Table 2. It can be seen that the ratio of A

Class to E Class road length is 1: 15. This clearly shows a substantial density of rural access.

While specific deficiencies still do exist at the lower end of the road hierarchy, the most

significant inadequacies are at the top end with the absence of a network of high mobility roads.

Table 2 also very clearly indicates that there are no major geographic imbalances in road

densities. When density is measured in terms of road kms per sq km of land area, the Western,

Central, Southern and North Western Provinces have a road density significantly higher than the

national average. By the same measure, the North & Eastern and Uva Provinces have an average

less than the national density. On the other hand, when density is measured in terms of road kms

per 1000 population, then the Western and Southern Provinces are below the national average,

while North Central and Uva have higher average values.

It is generally perceived that high road density will lead to higher economic growth. It has

however been observed by Antle (1983) that

>the road density does not have a clear-cut association with per capita income

nor economic growth rates in Asia. This reinforces the idea that it is not the

level of resource endowment, but rather the utilisation of infrastructure resources

which determines the economic impact=.

This is typically a correct prognosis of the conditions in Sri Lanka, where the density of roads at

over 1.5 kms per sq km of land area is very high compared to standards of even developed

countries. It is therefore difficult to support a wide spread campaign for more roads. As shown in

Table 2, even on provincial distribution, only one province has an overall road density of less

than 1 km per sq km.

The high road densities however, leads us to the interesting question as given the availability of

substantial road infrastructure, why has economic growth not followed despite heavy

investment in roads. This is attributed to three primary reasons. Firstly, the high road density

particularly at the lower end has caused severe budget constraints in maintenance of all roads.

Secondly, there are incessant political pressures even at present, brought on highway authorities

to construct and maintain new roads every year. Although no exact figures are available, it is

estimated that at least 1,000 kms of new road length is added to the network of rural roads each

year. This leaves even less funding for proper maintenance of the existing network. Thirdly,

there is the problem of the lack of expansion of roads at the top of the hierarchy, particularly

with respect to qualitatively better limited access roads such as motorways and expressways for

inter-regional traffic and traffic management measures in urban areas.


8

Class of Road

A

B

C

D

E

Municipal

Total

Primary Function

1 <--> 2

2 <--> 3

3 <--> 4

4 <--> 5

Rural

Secondary Function

2 <--> 2

3 <--> 3

4 <--> 4

5 <--> 5

Road Length (kms)

Western Province

367

1118

1956

8420

1215

13076

Central Province

383

1030

2401

8009

247

12070

Southern Province

353

802

1730

5606

233

8724

North & Eastern Provinces

1325

965

2556

12187

669

17731

North Western Province

354

906

2054

11742

124

15180

North Central Province

474

411

1612

9153

153

11804

Uva Province

445

474

1450

4891

65

7326

Sabaragamuwa Province

416

626

1127

6048

81

8299

TOTAL

4116

6331

14916

66054

2791

94209

% Paved

100%

100%

73%

n/a

n/a

n/a

Road Density (km/sq km)

Western Province

0.1

0.31

0.54

2.34

0.34

3.14

Central Province

0.07

0.18

0.43

1.44

0.04

2.16

Southern Province

0.07

0.15

0.32

1.04

0.05

1.62


0.08

0.05

0.15

0.69

0.04

1


0.05

0.12

0.27

1.56

0.02

2.02


0.05

0.05

0.18

1.05

0.02

1.35

Uva Province

0.05

0.06

0.17

0.59

0.01

0.88


0.08

0.13

0.23

1.23

0.02

1.69

TOTAL

0.07

0.1

0.23

1.05

0.05

1.5

Road Density (km/1000 population)

Western Province

0.08

0.25

0.44

1.89

0.27

2.94

Central Province

0.17

0.46

1.08

3.6

0.1

5.44

Southern Province

0.15

0.36

0.77

2.5

0.1

3.9


0.53

0.38

1.02

4.85

0.27

7.05


0.17

0.45

1.01

5.8

0.06

7.49


0.45

0.4

1.56

8.84

0.15

11.4

Uva Province

0.41

0.44

1.36

4.58

0.06

6.85


0.25

0.37

0.67

3.58

0.05

4.9

Total

0.23

0.37

0.86

3.83

0.16

5.46

Key

Significantly higher than national average

Significantly lower than national average

Table 2: Sri Lanka=s Road Network Density (Province Density)


9

This problem constitutes a

significant bottleneck in Sri

Lanka=s economic

development. Possible solutions

to this could be discussed as

follows;

Road Master plan In order to sustain the entire

road network, Sri Lanka should

have a policy of developing its

roads as a network. In this

respect, such a hierarchy should

be based on their role within the

economy. Such a policy should

be based on holistic regional

development strategies and in

particular provide good rural

and urban linkages. This is

vital for improving incomes in

the rural areas, particularly with

respect to marketing of produce

of small industries, from

agriculture, where large price

fluctuations occur unless appropriate markets can be accessed within the hierarchy of centres.

As shown in Figure 3, such a policy should be based on an access hierarchy whereby each urban

centre is connected to at least one urban centre of a larger magnitude. It is proposed that new

road construction and maintenance of funding should be carried out in this criterion whereby

roads between centres of different orders (diagonal arrows) are given preference over roads

connecting centres of the same order (horizontal arrows).

Road Maintenance Fund A case is also made for a Road Maintenance Fund (World Bank, 1997), which would have

designated funds for road maintenance, in order that a continuous and adequate flow of funds for

road maintenance could be made available, rather than having funds for maintenance which

compete with the more popular spending of new roads, particularly for increasing rural access

furthermore.

Limited Access Highways (Motorways) A basic network of around 600~800 kms of such a road network (Figure 4) is shown to be

A Class

B Class

C Class

1 st Order

2 nd

Order

3 rd Order

4 th Order

5 th Order

GALLE MATARA

HAKMANATANGALLE

WEERAKETIYA

COLOMBO

MEDAGAMABELIGALGODELLA

MIDDENIYA

Centre

Centre

Centre

Centre

D/E Class

Centre


10

necessary for Sri Lanka=s immediate requirements (Kumarage, 1998b). For a systematic

regional development strategy, this network should be centered around the Western Province

where most industries are located and extended to the rest of the country within a 15 year period

at the most.

However, such a system of roads should be based on overall development strategies. Such an

approach for the Colombo Metropolitan Region. (Figure 5) led to the North South Expressway

being proposed by the Urban Development Authority, (1998 ). However, The Colombo

Katunayake Expressway and the Southern Highway are presently being studied as highway

projects in isolation of each other and devoid of a national road Masterplan based on providing

the necessary linkages. This will only increase the cost of transport resulting from longer travel

distances and increase in congestion arising from poor placements of high traffic generators.

This in turn would be an impediment to the desired objective of rapid economic growth.

Improved Rural & Estate Roads, Trails & Bridges It is recognised that there are many communities in Sri Lanka both in the rural and estate sectors,

where adequately motorable access is still not available. While, the provision of roads to such

communities should be considered as being important, it should fall within a planned and

sustainable strategy as discussed below..

(1). Rural Roads

New rural roads are usually justified on the basis that they provide access to remote

communities that would otherwise be served only by footpaths. In rural areas, a walking

distances of upto 3 or 4 kms is not considered excessive. However, this restricts the

movement of goods, as well as the transport of the sick and elderly. If a public road is to

be provided for each such community, the road network would be further unmanageable.

Given the fact that Sri Lanka=s rural road network is not severely deficient in extent, its

further expansion would have to be based on a strictly rational basis.

(2). Policy for New Rural Roads

Such a policy should be based on a comprehensive survey of transport availability to all

communities, by the size of the community and distance to the nearest available road (or

rail). This should be made the criteria for providing new rural roads. It would also be

useful to know what resources are required for such roads. In most instances, this may be

the requirement of a single bridge or culvert. The urgency of such a policy cannot be over

emphasized, as Sri Lanka has to continue in supporting an unsustainable length of

roadways even at present. Moreover, at present at least Rs 600-800 mn appears to be

spent on new rural roads each year, with no appreciable improvement in access or

mobility to the rural sector.

(3). Type of Rural Roads Required


11

In the interest of providing technically appropriate rural roads, sustainability is not

usually considered an important feature. A metalled and tarred (paved) road surface is

often considered as an all-weather road by rural communities (and their political

representatives). Most politicians and villagers aspire to have one such road in their

community. Such roads are, expensive to maintain as they susceptible to extensive

damage as a result of inclement weather. For example, a number of estate and rural roads

once paved are now in poor condition due to high costs of maintenance. A program to

popularise sustainable all weather gravel roads or compacted earth roads is required.

Research on improving gravel roads, forms of soil stabilisation and drainage methods are

urgent needs hitherto not given much consideration in Sri Lanka. Similar research on

crossing structures would be useful.

(4). Rural Pathways & Bridges

Sri Lanka has an unspecified but dense network of non-motorable pathways. These

provide access to isolated communities and are generally not maintained by any

institution. The users themselves are expected to maintain the roads, except in the

crossing of waterways where bridges would be constructed by the respective local

authority. Poor route planning of such paths aggravate the situation as a stream or river

may be crossed several times. Wooden, steel and a few suspension bridges are used on

such pathways.

A program to improve such pathways and bridges is recommended. This would be

similar to an ILO program in Tanzania, which has studied the usage of such pathways

and provided technical details for improvements.

2.1.2 Railways

The railways, which was given protection in the early years has since then, never had its position

within a competitive multi-modal transport system adequately defined. This state of uncertainty

for the railways has seen the track neglected and rolling stock depleted. Unlike roads which had

growth in the post-independence era, the railways had retracted track and even lost its

operational strength in rolling stock. It is presently in poor shape to meet the challenges of

providing a viable service to meet modern transport needs.


12

Presently, the railway recovers between 20-25% of its total costs from fares. The poor return is

largely due to the under utilisation of track capacity and the shortage of rolling stock, which

keeps the fixed costs high, and deprives the opportunity of increasing more revenue. The State

as well as foreign donor agencies are however, reluctant to invest heavily on rail transport as its

present performance is poor by any standard. Meanwhile, the State continues to support the

railways with annual allocations of Rs 3 to 4 billion. This has of course been not dissimilar to the

experience with the railways in many other countries.

The railway=s role within the economy appears to be its service as a commuter mode

particularly in the Colombo Metropolitan Region. The railway also continues to play an

increasing role in mitigating road congestion, particularly during peak periods. Its present

financial status in its operations within this area are not know. However, it is anticipated that

revenue should be at least 50% of costs. Given the fact that bus companies are also operating at a

30% loss, the efficiency of the railways within the Greater Colombo area is adequately

promising for further investment. The overall Traffic Management Policy (NDC, 1998) for

Colombo, identifies the railway as the most important mode of transport for the development of

this area within the next two decades. It has emphasized that the railway should be revitalized to

carry upto 25% of the passenger share and upto 50% of the container movement in the Colombo

area by the year 2010.

The revitalization of the railways will stimulate the urban economy, as well as provide affordable

travel for the poor and mitigate a number of negative externalities. However, rail investment is

usually extensive and should be directed only at projects which will increase its competitiveness,

carriage of passengers and goods, particularly containers.

2.2 Transport Services

2.2.1 Bus Transport Services

Sri Lanka=s passenger transport services in the post-independence era, has for the most part

centred around bus transport. By the end of the 1970s, per-capita bus usage increased rapidly

due to Government policy of low fares and a technically efficient bus transport system (Figure

6). An important element in bus transport during this period was the Government=s emphasis to

provide access to rural areas. In addition to the low fares, the Government subsidised student

travel. It maintained a relatively high operating standard which was reliable, and an affordable

passenger transport service was provided to many rural communities. This led to a high quality

of rural life, with bus services at the time earning a reputation of being one of the factors that

prevented large scale urbanisation in Sri Lanka.

Bus services in Sri Lanka have been the most important provider of access to the poor, who have

used buses extensively both for passenger travel, as well as for transport of homestead produce to


13

market etc. It has provided mobility to the poor, who in most cases are entirely dependant on bus

transport for all their mobility requirements.

Bus transport, is presently served by over 8,000 buses operated by the State owned Regional

Transport Companies (RTC) and a further 12,000 (mostly individual) private bus operators.

Unlike the State buses, private bus operators do not receive any direct financial support from the

State. While RTC buses receive approximately 20% of costs in various forms of support, the

private sector is unable to recoup sufficient revenue and keeps increasing passengers resulting

in over crowding of buses and lowering all perceivable qualitative attributes of bus transport in

order to survive.

A discussion of the particular contributes of both State and private sector bus operations may be

necessary in order to provide an improved bus service.

Experiences of the State Sector in Bus Transport State control and the operation of bus transport worldwide, has developed a number of problems

by the early 1970s. In Sri Lanka, the lack of a fares policy; political reluctance to increase fares

relation to costs; political interference in non-policy issues; over staffing and trade union actions

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Year

Bu

s K

ms

pe

r C

ap

ita

Pa

x K

ms

pe

r C

ap

ita

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

Pax. kms per capita

Bus Km. per capita

Growth in Bus Travel(per capita)

source : SLCTB / NTC & UoM Calculations

File : bus1.wk4 / Univ ersity of Moratuwa


14

were the primary causes that led to the gradual deterioration of the State owned bus transport-the

Ceylon Transport Board (CTB). Although it continued to maintain high operational

performances, the inability to (I) increase the fleet in keeping with demand, (ii) maintain

reliability of services and (iii) manage the work force, were beginning to show the symptoms of

an imminent breakdown of the bus transport system by 19781.

Experiences of the Private Sector in Bus Transport By this time, the possibility of harnessing the private sector to provide public transport

operations had been >re-discovered= in the UK and elsewhere. Sri Lanka followed making

similar overtures by allowing private sector bus transport operations in 1978.

However, the weakness in regulatory aspects of managing routing, scheduling and fleeting of

buses led to most routes being over supplied, which in turn led to poor utilisation per bus (i.e.

kms operated per day) and subsequent over-loading of the buses when operating (i.e. passengers

per bus). Cartelization has occurred where private buses form a queue at the starting point and

delay departure until a large number of passengers have boarded. In this manner, private bus

owners on a particular route collude to constrain supply and avoid competition. The collusive

practices leads to irregular and unpredictable departure times, congestion at terminals. The over-

loading enables the private operator to constrain supply to achieve profit objectives. The owners

thereby earn greater profits than is socially optimal, while the quality and quantity of bus service

received by the public is significantly reduced.

On the other hand, private bus crews indulge in competition with regard to collection of

passengers whilst on route. This further depreciates quality as buses race each other between

stops and then linger at stops awaiting more passengers. Passengers attracted by a bus >waiting

for departure= board into already crowded buses. These practices adopted by all operators

further increase the social cost of the private bus service. Even if an operator wishes to provide a

better service, the nature of the ordinary bus services disallows passengers to identify a particular

operator with the quality of service. Moreover, their desire is to get into the first available bus.

The only identifiable service is the one operated by the State.

1The present State operations after twenty years of experimentation in >privatisation= (have only

resulted in the continuing lowering of the industry standards of bus operations) have now formed into

several Regional Transport Companies (RTCs), which are given a greater flexibility in management and

motivation for increasing revenues


15

A clear case of market failure has occurred, where the desired objectives of a cheaper and

qualitatively better bus service by the private sector has not been realized. Instead, and in fact

most unfortunately, all of the qualitative parameters of passenger travel have deteriorated after

the re-entry of the private sector. Load factors (indicating crowding levels) have increased to an

alarming and all time high of 150%, with daily vehicle utilisation plummeting to around 50% of

that achieved during the CTB era (Table 3). Unsafe driving, discourteous service, neglect of

service during unremunerative times, lack of responsibility, reluctance to provide the first and

last bus (usually not profitable), slower travel characterized by lingering at bus halts, poor road

space utilisation due to competitive driving habits are some of the common complaints and

symptoms of the failure of the free market in bus transport. In fact, by most measures, even in

the most inefficient days the CTB, appear to have given a more cost effective service to the

public than the present service by the private sector.

Performance Indicator Private

(1997)

State

Performance of Private

Sector

1997

1981

as % of 1997

as % of 1981

Input

Bus Productivity: Average Vehicle Utilisation (kms per day)

132

202

246

65%

54%

Productivity of Employees2 (Bus Place kms per employee per day)

1,078

1,394

1,271

77%

85%

Output

Overloading

Load Factor

150%

104%

69%

69%

46%

Reported Accident Rate3 (per mn bus kms driven)

19.4

12.3

10.2

63%

53%

Table 3: Comparison of Productivity & Performance of Private Vs. State Buses

By oligopolistic behaviour and by constraining supply, private buses operate below the socio-

economical optimum supply and quality levels. The hidden costs of private bus travel are higher

than State buses. The following table shows that the cost of carriage of a passenger by the

private sector at equal load factors is 15% more than the State sector. A speculative value of 35%

could be placed as a cost differential when other social costs of private sector operations

(accidents, loss of passenger time, fatigue etc.) are also considered.

2Private Bus Employees have been assumed at 2 crew per bus plus 1 other for all other direct and indirect

inputs such as maintenance, management, repairs etc. This figure was obtained from the Bus Operating Cost Study

(UoM, 1993).

3From Police Statistics for 1996


16

RTCs

Private

Remarks Revenue per Pax Km Carried

Rs 0.31

Rs 0.31

Private assumed equal to RTCs

Cost per Pax Km Operated (at

existing load factors)

Rs. 0.35

Rs 0.27

Assuming 15% profit for private at load

factors of 103% for RTC and 150% for

private. Cost per Pax Km Operated (at

equal load factors)

Rs. 0.45

Rs 0.51

Assuming 15% profit for private at load

factors of 80% for both RTCs and private.

Table 4: Comparison of Cost of Passenger Carriage by Private and State Sector (RTCs)

Decline in Public Transport Services The reduction of financial support for public transport and the encouragement given to private

enterprise in transport, coupled by the relaxation of regulatory control have led to transportation

policies and investments, which focus heavily on encouraging motorization. Motor cars and

motor cycles replace various forms of non-motorised travel and buses are replacing rail systems.

This has put pressure on road capacity where the demand for road space, particularly in urban

areas has far out stripped supply, leading to numerous negative externalities such as increased

congestion and pollution.

Regulation Poor and ineffective regulation of

bus transport has been one of the

reasons for the failure of the

private sector to provide a

qualitative service. For the

successful delivery of passenger

transport by the private sector, a

number of essential attributes as

shown in Box 2 do not exist in the

private bus sector at the present

time. Reforms are required in both

the National and Provincial

regulatory authorities. The need to

train staff and acquire modern

planning tools. Procedural changes

are required to make institutions

adequately free from political and

bureaucratic shackles.

Public Transport Fares

Box 2: Essential Attributes for Private Sector Transport Service

C The output is measurable in terms of easily defined

levels of service C The product of service is identifiable and familiar C There is no cartelization or any forms of

oligapolistic behaviour between operators C That there is price and quality competition between

operators C There is a competent and transparent Regulator

who ensures that the best/cheapest operator obtains contracted services

C The Regulator is free from Government bureaucratic constraints and budgets


17

In Sri Lanka, the single most socially sensitive parameter with respect to transport has been the

level of bus fares. Low bus (and train) fares have been seen as a social subsidy -jealously

guarded by successive governments. This implicit >low fares= policy of the 1960s and 1970s

meant the stagnation of fares (Figure 7) for long periods of time (e.g. 1958 to 1971 to name one

instance). A specific fares policy or an index for regular fare increases based on inputs has yet to

be adopted.

The reluctance on the part of the State to increase fares in keeping with costs, coupled with

inability to provide adequate levels of subsidy (to cover the differences between reasonable

costs and allowed fares), meant that timely and systematic replacements of aging buses and the

procurement of new buses to cater to the increase in demand could not be maintained. As a

result, the reliability of the bus service deteriorated as did the comfort factor, as evident in the

alarming increase in over crowding. The load factor which measures the average level of loading

as a ratio of the available carrying capacity (measured in Sri Lanka as seats + 25% standees)

reached 85% by 1978, when the desired figure was around 60 to 70% (Figure 8).

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0

20

40

60

80

100

Year

Cts

. p

er

Pa

x.

Km

.

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Gra

nts

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

Cost

% Grants

Fare

Bus Cost and Fares at 1958 Prices(with percentage grants)

Source :SLCTB & UOM Calculations

f ile : bus1.wk4 / Univ ersity of Moratuwa


18

Although the entry of the private sector into bus transport since 1978 has brought about more

regular fare increases, governments still continue to resist legitimate fare increases especially

with the rise of inflation experienced during this period. Correspondingly, the load factors have

now further increased to over 100% in the state operated buses and 150% in the private buses.

It therefore must be concluded that the low fares policy, that initially provided affordable access

and mobility especially for the poor, has now led to over-loading, longer travel and waiting

times, all of which contributes significantly to the increase in the hidden costs of bus travel.

These measures are felt especially by the poor, who are captive to bus transport.

A number of policy directives followed by specific programs have been recommended in the Bus

Transport Policy (1998) for immediate implementation. These are given in Box 3:

Box 3: Recommendations to Proposed Bus Transport Policy

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

Year

Pe

rce

tan

ge

Ne

w B

use

s a

dd

ed

Lo

ad

Fa

cto

r

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

Load Factor

New Buses %

New Bus additions and Load Factors

Source : SLCTB & UOM Calculations

File : bus1.wk4 / Univ ersity of Moratuwa


19

2.2.2 Goods Transport

Road freight transport, which accounts for around 90% of freight movements has been almost

exclusively in the hands of the private sector. Over 50,000 trucks are used for this purpose.

While the majority of these vehicles are user owned (such as estates and hardware stores) there

are a few transport companies, mostly engaged in the transport of plantation produce (mainly

tea) and containers. In the case of other goods, they are carried mostly by user owned vehicles.

The transport of vegetables is done on a collector-carrier basis. Older and smaller vehicles which

make up the majority of the fleet are generally used for occasional hire in urban areas, mostly

transporting building materials, agricultural produce from the estates and rural areas. The

owners of these vehicles usually own only one unit. Their operations could be considered as part

of the informal sector.

Freight transport has generally been well served by the private sector. Private enterprise has

worked effectively, as loads are shared and in most cases fares are competitive. It has been

observed that the private sector, in direct contrast to the performance of the few public sector

trucks carry a higher load level and are cheaper to operate per tonne km.

However, their is a need for improved technology in the transport and handling of perishable

produce such as vegetables, where 30-50% losses are reported. In the case of vegetables,

1. Improved quality is a foremost priority

2. To adopt a policy of a support level of 10% for recurrent expenditure and 10% for capital

expenditure by the State. (Many US cities give support levels of upto 75%, while most

European cities range between 25-75%). This presently totals Rs 2.6 bn, which is equal

to the average State spending over the last six years. The former to be utilized for

purposes of a travel subsidy to poor students, operation of uneconomic rural routes, route

planning and regulatory improvements.

3. Implement a number of recommended performance indicators tied to the financial

incentives (such as new buses) for the Regional Transport Companies.

4. Permit restrictions to be placed encouraging private bus owners to form into groups of 50

bus operators or more.

5. To adopt a fares policy for the purpose of regular and systematic fare increases

6. The role of the State sector and private sector have to be redefined as follows:

C The RTCs to concentrate on providing basic services at break-even prices

after receiving the afore-mentioned support.

C Fares in the private sector to be fully deregulated but designated as a

complementary provider and redirected to operate (I) higher priced-higher quality

services and (ii) specific contracted services such as unremunerative rural routes.

This will ensure a better balance in the supply of regulated low cost bus transport and

qualitatively superior transport at competitive and unregulated prices.


20

producers have to transport their produce to Colombo, where wholesale markets are

concentrated. The development of the Dambulla wholesale market has shown the success of

outstation distribution points. There is a need for similar markets to emerge in the other

Provinces.

The four and two wheeler tractors and since of late the three wheelers are also widely used in

rural areas for purpose of the carriage of freight. The wide mix of vehicle sizes and their

operational characteristics also enables a choice of vehicles based on size of load and type of

terrain in most instances.

2.3 Pricing of Transport

The original rationale of post-independence transport pricing sought to favour the poor. Public

and goods transport had a number of pro-poor pricing structures set up several decades ago.

However, in most cases these appear to have outlived their usefulness and require reformulation.

The most important are discussed as follows.

2.3.1 Low Fares in Public Transport

It may be argued that a low fares policy is a necessity as fare levels that are charged may be

beyond the affordability of the poor. The State could restrict basic fares to a maximum allowable

fare. The State should then reimburse bus operators with the difference between the viable and

affordable fares. Many cities the world over extend operating support for public transport in

order to keep fares at affordable levels. It is generally held, that the external (social) benefits of

providing public transport services out weighs the cost of the financial support. Where public

transport is deregulated, it is given to the operator in a number of different methods such as

franchised payments, tax concessions, land development rights, public sector obligations (PSO)

payments etc. Thus, it becomes necessary to adopt a public transport financial support policy,

which is primarily based on the affordability features for the poor.

2.3.2 Unregulated Fares in Higher Quality Bus Transport

The prices for higher quality public transport should be fully deregulated, so that effective price

and quality competition could occur. However, in this instance too, the role of the regulator is

important ensuring that the passenger can make a choice based on service quality of that will be

delivered, rather than what is implied.

2.3.3 Subsidies and Financial Assistance for Transport for the Poor

In this context, the ongoing support for operating unremunerative rural routes should be

continued and extended on a rational basis. The Bus Transport Policy Report (1998)


21

recommends that the present support level of Rs 212 mn should be increased to Rs 350 mn p.a.

Schools season ticket re-imbursement of Rs 300 mn should be continued. However, in order for

the school children to receive a service in keeping with the expenditure on their behalf by the

State, a certain measurable quality of service should be placed before bus operators

2.3.4 Price of Fuels

The historical trend in fuel pricing has attempted to maintain a differential tax structure, wherein

petrol (Gasoline) initially considered as an luxury item used by the higher income groups has

been taxed at a higher rate (presently around 400%) than diesel (presently around 30%). There is

reluctance to increase the price of diesel for the fear of spiraling prices. However, successive

Governments have had few inhibitions in raising the price of Petrol (Figure 9). This has been

with a view to increasing fiscal earnings from petrol sales, while keeping bus fares and the cost

of transportation, particularly of agricultural produce to a minimum. This favors, goods transport

and bus travel, which are essential requirements for the poor. The operating costs of petrol driven

private transport for vehicles such as motor cycles and three wheelers becomes prohibitive for

those who wish to increase their personal mobility in order to be more productive. This may

prove an inhibition for the industrious sections of the poor, who would like to increase their

productivity through two or three wheeled private transport.

High fuel taxes could affect the competitiveness of goods particularly with liberalization in the

international trade. It could therefore be argued that the high margins on fuel sales should be

reduced and replaced by other well formulated fees, tolls and taxes. They should be set at a

reasonable cost, such as to recover for highway use, and as a means of managing demand for

limited road space, where such cannot be added at reasonable costs.

2.3.5 Taxing of Vehicles

The differential pricing of fuel has over the years attracted diesel cars, vans and even three

wheelers which are fast becoming the majority in the vehicle fleet. Presently, 86% of the fuel

consumption is diesel. The present tax structure for vehicles generally favors the low cost and

rural modes of transport and should continue. However, the pricing structure for vehicles should

be reformulated within a wider policy of economic and social concerns, wherein the present tax

structure for public transport vehicles, low cost vehicles and rural modes of transport are retained

and the surging tide of imports of diesel vehicles for private transport is arrested.


22

2.4 Promotion of Low Cost Vehicles

Low cost vehicles are essential for the mobility of the poor. Bicycles, hand tractors, low powered

motor cycles are amongst these vehicles. It is necessary that these vehicles are free of any taxes

(other than the component for road usage) and are made as affordable to the poor, who are the

recipients. It is recommended that credit schemes should be made available for the purchase of

low cost vehicles. Many schemes exist for loans or leasing facilities for expensive vehicles such

as cars, vans, trucks and buses, credit to purchase low cost vehicles are non existent.

2.4.1 Bicycles

According to the National Transport Policy (1996), the Government will promote bicycles in

rural areas. However, unlike in countries such as China, there are hardly any measures taken to

encourage cycling. This requirement have scarcely been considered in transport planning or

designing of highways.

2.4.2 Three Wheelers

Three wheelers are increasingly used in rural transport. They are used for both passenger and

goods transport. It is believed that encouragement should be given for manufacturing vehicles

0

1

2

3

4

Year

Pri

ce

pe

r L

itre

Ru

pe

es

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

Diesel

S. Petrol

Cost of Fuel in 1958 Constant Rupees per litre

Source : CPC & UOM Calculations

File : mv f uel2.wk4


23

more suited for the rough terrain of rural roads and the transport demands of rural areas.

2.4.3 Non-Conventional Vehicles

Sri Lanka has the hand tractor as a non-conventional vehicle. It serves the rural areas very well

as a multi purpose vehicle. Apart from this vehicle there are really no other non-conventional

vehicles that have become popular. Rural trips are short distances, and great speed is not

expected and serves the concept of non-conventional vehicles.

Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), a London based organisation is actively

engaged in developing alternative means of transport the world over. A Bibliography on Rural

Transport (Sieber, 1997) has listed several attempts and projects to develop low-cost vehicles. In

Sri Lanka presently, a number of forms of IMTs are being promoted such as motor cycles trailers

and cycle based constructions

2.5 Safety in Transport for the Poor

2.5.1 Highway Design & Maintenance

It was reflected earlier that the >affordable= means of transport for the poor were generally,

walking and non-motorised transport. However, it has been observed that facilities for

pedestrians and for non-motorised transport have diminished mostly due to the fact that an

increasingly greater proportion of limited road space is now being re-designed (or rehabilitated)

for those modes of transport, which are at the top of the affordability pyramid.

The highway design standards presently utilised in Sri Lanka do not pay special attention to

pedestrian or non-motorised transport. as a result of such practises there are high casualty

figures amongst pedestrians and cyclists. Expenditure for pedestrian and non-motorised facilities

in general highway improvement programs is estimated to be less than 5% when compared to

overall investment.

Policy directives are necessary in making roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists. For example,

safety audits with special emphasis to pedestrian and non-motorised safety, should be performed

on roads on a periodic basis. Furthermore, safety clearance should be sought before handing

completion of any new road or road improvement projects. However, such policy directives

have to be supported with suitable highway designs which provides the adequate safety to these

user groups, as well as the required financial allocations for enhancing safety. Assistance is

necessary in formulating manuals on safety designs on highways.

2.5.2 Maintenance of Pedestrian Facilities While, highway maintenance is generally considered inadequate, hardly any attention is given

for the maintenance of pedestrian facilities. In urban areas, sidewalks are often dug up for a


24

myriad of reasons and never properly restored. In addition, sidewalks are encroached by traders

making them unusable to pedestrians. In rural areas, shoulders are often neglected and over-

grown with weeds, making them unusable. The net result cases is that the pedestrian is forced on

to the carriageway amidst traffic causing danger to life and serious injury.

2.5.3 Safety in Public Transport

Safer public transport could be achieved by reducing over loading and competitiveness in bus

operations (not necessarily in the industry). It could further improve with the enforcement of

road-worthiness for public transport vehicles.

2.5.4 Compensation

Accidents could be prevented, but not eliminated. It is necessary to consider the question of

compensation, if and when accidents do occur. A study of pedestrian accidents has displayed that

only 05% of pedestrian accidents reported to the Police have resulted in any form of

compensation. This has been the case, where influential vehicle owners evade responsibility for

injury or death caused to pedestrians and cyclists who are usually among the poor and

powerless.

Where compensation has been paid, the average amounts received (from a sample of nearly 500

cases) was Rs 500/=. Of the nearly 1,000 pedestrian and cyclist fatalities each year, it is unlikely

that only a handful receive any insurance benefits due from the third party coverage of the

offending vehicle. The legal procedure involved in making a claim is lengthy for the poor to

even attempt it. The maximum payable is Rs 100,000/= provided that the person killed was

employed. It is ironic that there are no upper values for the damage to vehicles, which often runs

to millions of rupees, whereas the loss to human life has such a low ceiling.

There is also the need for a NGO to provide, free or affordable legal aid to assist the poor and

uneducated in making claims. The need for counseling and rehabilitation is also prevalent in the

case of the severely injured.

2.6 Transport Requirements of Women

Strategies for achieving this could begin with the highest level of Government, with the issue of

a policy statement to the effect, of encouraging and providing for the mobility of women. In

terms of specific projects, the strategy should be two-pronged in providing vehicles for personal

mobility as well as training or developing skills for utilisation. In this respect, the bicycle could

be considered as being the most suitable in terms of affordability, as well as required skills. The

development and familiarization of accessories required for the carriage of firewood and water

would be useful for women in their daily tasks.


25

2.7 Employment Generation

2.7.1 Employment in Rural Road Construction & Maintenance

Rural roads can benefit the poor by generating employment through labour-intensive

construction and maintenance programs. The regular maintenance of gravel roads is a source of

employment in rural areas. Presently, State Agencies reportedly have inadequate funds for

regular maintenance of rural roads, and employment opportunities are by passed. Instead, when

the road has deteriorated beyond manual repair, heavy duty machinery is brought for expensive

repairs, where the labour requirements are proportionately less.

In this respect, it is vital that rural roads should be constructed as much as possible, using low

cost and locally available material. Gravel roads, compacted earth roads, wooden bridges are

typical of such infrastructure and material that can be locally maintained. A policy in this regards

will be useful in ensuring that rural roads would be locally maintained. Consequentially, it is

interesting to investigate if the off peak farm labour could be utilised for periodic road

maintenance, which could be conducted during specified periods of the year.

2.7.2 Training in Vehicle Operating Skills

At a higher level of employment, it would be useful to have NGOs that provide skills

development for automobile repair and vehicle driving. With the annual growth of the vehicle

fleet by 4-5%, the job opportunities within the industry should also simultaneously increase.

Skills in these areas are in short supply. Three wheeler driving appears to have provided

employment in recent times (an increase from 10,000 to 70,000 vehicles in 8 years). However, it

should be cautioned that over supply of the industry could have cost escalations that affect the

cost of transport.

Poverty Alleviation, Sri Lanka : Transport Conclusions

26

CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSIONS

The paper has identified conceptual issues facing the poor, through which a basic strategy for

poverty alleviation using positive contributions from the transport sector for development have

been formulated. Critical issues which directly and indirectly impact negatively on the welfare of

the poor have been identified . These have been dealt with under a dual focus of alleviating

poverty through rapid economic growth, while ensuring social equity for the poorer sections in

society.

A number of solutions have been identified for each critical issue. These solutions range across

policy changes, procedural and regulatory reforms, financial assistance, technical assistance,

consultative groups, physical construction, research, development of planning tools, training,

transport studies and the provision of credit facilities.

These maybe listed as follows:

A. Transport Infrastructure

1. The highest priority within the road hierarchy at present is for the construction of a

network of limited access- high mobility roads (*****)4

2. Development of a Road Masterplan and Access Mapping to rationalize future

expenditure in highways and for prioritizing of new road construction projects (****)

3. Formulation of the mechanisms of setting up a Road Maintenance Fund to provide

adequate funds for road maintenance, such that available road lengths are maintained

cost-effectively, without diversion of funds for new constructions (****)

4. Undertake R&D projects for improving Gravel & Earth Roads; Trail & Suspension

Bridges (***)

5. Construction of rural roads and bridges to inaccessible communities (***)

B. Improving Public Transport

1. In order to arrest and improve the deteriorated quality of bus transport (to which the poor

are captive), the State should support bus transport by in specific areas. This should

include pro-poor measures such as increased support for unremunerative rural routes,

subsidy for poor students and investment for buses required for demand growth (*****)

4Number of stars indicate the priority level


27

2. Bus regulating agencies, both national and provincial, need to be reformed and require

assistance in the training of planners and in the development of bus routing and

scheduling tools (*****)

3. The private bus operators in order to increase the productivity of their buses, require

assistance to organize themselves to form into the proposed Minimum Fleet Operators

(****)

4. Strengthen the suburban railways by investment in rolling stock and provide assistance

in planning and scheduling would assist the urban poor (***)

5. Assist the setting up of Provincial Bus Passenger Consultative Councils to empower bus

passengers in their participatory role in obtaining required bus services (***)

C. Goods Transport

1. Introduction of improved technology in transport & handling of agricultural produce

(***)

2. Development of other primary marketing centres for agricultural produce (e.g. Dambulla)

(***)

3. Design, develop and popularise a multi-purpose vehicle for rural transport (***)

D. Special Transport Related Needs of the Poor

4. Provide credit facilities for purchase of bicycles (****)

5. Reformulate vehicle and fuel taxes, originally designed to assist the poor, but which have

now been circumvented by other sectors (****)

6. Study the strategies for improving transport service in Estate areas (****)

7. Provide design guidelines for pedestrian and non-motorised safety in road construction

and to formulate strategies of incorporating such to the mainstream of road design (****)

8. Provide legal assistance to victims of road accidents in order to seek financial

compensation and to provide rehabilitation and counseling (**)

E. Employment Generation in Transport

1. Study the potential of scheduling periodic road maintenance in order to use off-peak

farm labour (***)

2. Encourage the setting up of skills development programs in vehicle driving and repair

(**)

3. Study the potential of encouraging local bicycle assembly (**)


28

F. Transport Needs of Women

1. Facilitate Bicycle riding & increased ownership among women (****)

2. Design, develop and popularise low cost bicycle accessories for fetching of water and

firewood (***)

3. Develop and implement a program to improve the travel conditions of women in public

transport (**)

Poverty Alleviation, Sri Lanka : Transport Selected Biography

29

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY5

C Antle J.M., >Infrastructure and Aggregate Agricultural Productivity: International

Evidence=, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol 31: 609-620,1983.

C Bus Transport Policy, Ministry of Transport & Highways, Sri Lanka, 1998.

C National Development Council (NDC), >Traffic Management Action Plan=, Colombo,

1997.

C Kumarage, A.S., >Transport & Poverty Alleviation in Sri Lanka= , UNDP Poverty

Alleviation Project, 1998.

C Kumarage, A.S., >Sri Lanka=s Highway Network and its Connectivity to the Asian

Highway=, Proceedings Workshop on ASEAN Infrastructure Planning & Management,

Bangkok, 1998.

C National Transport Policy, Ministry of Transport, Environment & Women=s Affairs, Sri

Lanka, 1996.

C Regional Development Study Centre (RDSC), >Rural Transport Policy Studies- Reports

on Divisional Secretariat Divisions of Dehiowita, Hambantota and Akuressa=, University

of Colombo, 1992.

C Sieber, N. >An Annotated Bibliography on Rural transport=, IFRTD, London, 1997.

C University of Moratuwa, >Bus Operating Cost Study= for National Transport

Commission, 1993.

C Urban Development Authority (UDA), >Transport Requirements of the Colombo

Metropolitan Region=, Colombo, 1997.

C World Bank, >Sri Lanka Transport Sector Strategy Study- Final Report 16269-CE,

Volume 1'. January 1997. A:\SUMREP~1.WPD

5A more comprehensive bibliography is to be found in Kumarage (1998)

formulation of policy framework for poverty … · 2015-03-18 · such a >bi-focal = vision is...

Documents