No separate lanes for buses: Police

29 October 2016 06:31 pm

The Director of Police Traffic Division in Colombo, SP Sumith Nissanka said yesterday that no discussions were held so far with regard to a decision about a separate lane for buses during peak hours from Battaramulla to Colombo Fort from December 1, in a bid to reduce the extreme traffic congestion in the area.

However, the Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association Chairman (LPBOA) Gemunu Wijeyaratne said recently that the Megapolis and Western Region Development Minister had approved the regulation with effect from December 1.

When the Daily Mirror inquired into the matter, the SP said that despite the requests made by various parties including bus associations, no such decision had been made as far as they were concerned.

He said there were already separate lines for buses on roads in Pettah and Kollupitiya.

He went on to say that even though there was a need for separate tracks for buses and other vehicles to ease the traffic congestion during peak hours, there was no infrastructure to implement such regulations.

“Our roads are not compatible for such regulations. They should be developed further,” he said.

At least 475,000 motorbikes, cars and vans travel to Colombo daily. However, the number of individuals entering Colombo by 21,000 buses outweighed the number of individuals coming into the city using other modes of transport. (Piyumi Fonseka)