Third in the world and first in Asia in traffic congestion

What is most disheartening is that congestion has been worsening for the past five or six decades

Almost all Sri Lankan newspapers reported yesterday that Sri Lanka is the third most congested country in the world. The story had been based on the Numbeo’s Traffic Index, a digital platform run by Numbeo, a for-profit crowdsourced global database in Serbia.

According to the report, Sri Lanka was placed behind only Nigeria and Costa Rica. Interestingly, Sri Lanka is also ranked by the Index as the most traffic-congested country in Asia. Bangladesh, Kenya, Egypt, Peru, Iran, India and Colombia completed the list of the world’s 10 most traffic-congested countries. 

Numbeo’s Traffic Index compares congestion levels across countries and cities using user-submitted data on average travel time, traffic inefficiencies, fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The index also incorporates sub-indices measuring average commute time, commuter dissatisfaction, transport system efficiency and estimated carbon monoxide emissions from daily travel. People who live in or travel to cities like Colombo and Kandy would not contest these findings, despite those in congested cities in some other countries having doubts in them. In fact, driving in Colombo or Kandy at midday is a nightmare and a terrible test of your patience. It affects not only the wellbeing of individuals, but also the economy of the country.

The University of Moratuwa in 2019  estimated that around a billion rupees a day (Rs 365 billion annually) is lost in terms of wastage of fuel and millions of man hours due to  traffic congestion. This points to the magnitude of the problem. Given the increase in the vehicular population and the absence of development of road network to keep up, one can only imagine the current financial loss the country incurs. 

Congestion affects  people’s health and wellbeing individually. Being trapped in traffic for hours leads to severe mental fatigue and chronic stress. Indecent public transport system is an additional pressure on the ordinary people. Commuters - especially those in open-air vehicles like three-wheelers, motorcycles, and buses -- face concentrated exposure to toxic vehicle emissions, which significantly elevates the risk of cardiovascular disease, respiratory illnesses, and eye/throat irritation. 

Families are forced to alter their schedules, often waking up before dawn and returning late at night to beat rush hours, leaving less time for rest and family bonding. Children travel to school enduring exhausting daily routines that impact their ability to study. With no expectation that the government will fix these problems, individuals are taking matters into their own hands to find personal solutions. The only solution they find is to have a transport mode of their own, which in turn aggravates the problem.

Before the open economy was introduced in Sri Lanka, only around 200,000 vehicles were in use in the country. However, with gradual growth over the years, the total vehicle population has exceeded 8.5 million, according to the Department of Motor Traffic. Motorcycles comprise the largest share  (nearly 5 million), followed by over 1.1 million three-wheelers, the two worst law-breakers on the roads. During a special discussion held at the Ministry of Transport on in September 2021, it transpired that around 1.9 million people and nearly 600,000 vehicles enter the Colombo city alone daily from various parts of the country.  What is most disheartening is that congestion has been worsening for the past five or six decades, despite authorities occasionally paying lip service to the matter. The root of this crisis largely stems from an inefficient public transit system coupled with urban development heavily centralised around Colombo and Kandy. 

Shifting the administrative Capital to Sri Jayawardenepura was planned in the 1980s but it seems to have been forgotten now. On the other hand, the lack of comfort, safety, reliability and most importantly decency in public transit modes (such as buses and trains) has compelled the ordinary people to make a cultural shift toward private vehicles and three-wheelers. 

The two current ministers in charge of transport and urban development, Bimal Ratnayake and Dr. Prasanna Gunasena seem to  make an attempt to overhaul these sectors, but it would be a gigantic task, given the intricacy of it which involves many other sectors and various interest groups as well. Besides, absence of a permanent policy for these sectors might roll back any such overhaul effort at any time.