Additional private buses to be assigned during new year: Gemunu

Additional private buses will be assigned during the new year season following the requirements of the National Transport Commission (NTC) and the Road Passenger Transport Authority (RPTA), the Lanka Private Bus Owners' Association (LPBOA) said today.

Addressing the media, LPBOA Chairman Gemunu Wijerathne said limited additional bus services were operated yesterday (11)  and more additional buses will be assigned to operate this afternoon and tonight.

"Fifty percent of the buses will operate tomorrow (13), including short and long-distance services. There will be fewer bus services scheduled to operate on April 14 as the conductors and drivers too need to celebrate the new year. The bus conductors and drivers who do not celebrate the new year can carry on with their duties," he said.

Another 25% of buses are scheduled to operate on April 15. However, long-distance bus services will resume only on April 16.

"We will provide additional buses following the request of the NTC and RPTA and have decided to charge an additional half of the fare as the buses have to arrive without passengers," added Gemunu. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)