Bus routes in Colombo and in the wider areas of the Western Province are disappearing at an alarming rate, raising questions about the public transport system’s shortcomings in servicing the people.
According to the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), which operates the State-run buses commonly referred to as ‘CTB’ buses, only one bus is operational twice a day on the 150, 112, 152, 115, 155, and 168 bus routes.
Additionally, the Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association (LPBOA) President Gemunu Wijeratne told The Sunday Morning that in the Western Province, about 35% of bus routes had ceased to exist.
Profits and personnel
SLTB Information Officer Dhanushka Jayasinghe said that the reasons for bus routes ceasing to function were two-fold: “One issue is that of income – if there is no income from a certain route, we can’t provide the service. This is the same for privately-run buses as they also don’t operate on a certain route if that route doesn’t provide the income.
“The other issue is that it is difficult to retain drivers and conductors, especially in Colombo as they look for work in the areas where they are from instead of from Colombo.”
Meanwhile, SLTB Deputy General Manager (Operations) Panduka Swarnahansa said that the main reason for disappearing bus routes was the “profit issue”.
“We still run on a route even if there are no profits, but due to decreasing profits and numbers of workers, we are finding it difficult to do so. If someone subsidises the loss for us, then we can do it. If we don’t get enough income from routes, then how can we pay the salaries and maintain buses and at the least, cover the fuel cost involved?” questioned Swarnahansa.
He added that the SLTB had “never received” funds from the Treasury, except in the case of the ‘Sisu Sariya’ bus service that was dedicated to school children: “Even in this case, the Treasury provides only half of the required funds, so we have to find the other half by ourselves.”
Privately-run buses
LPBOA President Wijeratne said that while privately-run buses were facing a number of challenges in maintaining their services, the main issue remained in the regulatory authorities – the Provincial Councils – failing to fulfil their responsibilities.
“At the moment, regulations are being done by the provinces. In the Western Province, about 35% of bus routes are non-existent. The 112 and 168 routes have finished while the 155 route recently finished. Bus routes are being increasingly shaved off and have ceased to exist because the authorities never survey the bus routes properly to check the capacity of the routes,” he said.
According to Wijeratne, this is a shortcoming of the Western Provincial Council.
“Before Covid-19, in 2018/’19 there were about 18,000 buses but now it has decreased to 13,000. Bus owners are switching to alternate services like office transport.”
He further said that a lack of infrastructure was also interrupting services. “There are no places for us to park the buses and no toilet facilities or places for people to eat. Workers don’t have places to rest or even places of accommodation while bus owners don’t get the collection properly. Timetables haven’t been made yet.
“For the development of a country, transportation is absolutely needed. Without developing the transport system, it is pointless.”
Workers on the frontlines
Meanwhile, a number of SLTB bus drivers and conductors that The Sunday Morning spoke to said that they were being pushed to the frontlines to battle the challenges brought about by Covid-19, the economic crisis, and lack of development in the transport sector.
“Buses are not being maintained at all. We report to our respective depots and while some depots work efficiently, others are not functioning properly at all. We are always being told that parts for maintenance work are not available and have to be purchased from elsewhere,” said S.P.S. Samarasinghe, a driver who operates the 180 and 154 routes, and who has been an employee of the SLTB for about 12 years now.
He said that for the routes he was working on, vacancies for about six drivers were open as drivers were retiring and leaving the service while no new recruitments were being made to replace them.
“Most drivers also request transfers to their own local areas, instead of working in Colombo. This means that there is a severe labour shortage in the service,” he added.
Samarasinghe and Ananda Sampath, a conductor who also works on the 180 and 154 routes, said that they had also not been paid Overtime (OT) hours since Covid.
“Before Covid-19 we would have about 4-5 hours of OT, but now we only earn our basic which is about Rs. 40,000. We still work about 12 hours a day. I finish one bottle of pain-relieving balm every two days because my limbs hurt after driving each day,” said Samarasinghe.
They noted that with OT pay, they would be able to earn about Rs. 90,000 a month.