Good response
I would like to thank all the readers who sent me emails regarding my article “Stopping the carnage on Lankan highways” which appeared in the Business Times on April 21. It was encouraging to find out that the majority of commuters want to see safer roads for all road users. There were a few emails criticising me for giving prominent coverage to Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Please understand that I am not a political supporter of any party. What I wrote was what I saw in Sri Lanka. I have been visiting Sri Lanka every year since 2003 and this was my honest opinion after seeing the dramatic changes to our road infrastructure within the last few years.
Some critics wanted to know about my opinion on environmental issues, such as the emission of carbon in the atmosphere due to the increase in registration of vehicles within the recent years. Please note that I am not an expert in that field and I will therefore leave that subject to the experts. However, I am very happy to confine my opinion to issues that I know best, which are road safety, road maintenance/construction and urban drainage issues.
I wrote about setting up traffic committees, changes to obtaining driving licences, black spots on highways and installation of traffic calming devices. Today I would like to concentrate on LATMS (Local Area Traffic Management Schemes), school zones, footpaths, bus stops,the role of the Traffic Police and a few other relevant issues that will help to make Lankan roads safer for all road users.
(The writer is a Sri Lankan engineer residing overseas. He
could be reached at jajayaweera@hotmail.com). tice and slows the smooth flow of traffic. This was alright in the good all days where our roads were not congested. But now, the authorities should make arrangements to move bus stop zones away from the junctions. The road pavement width within bus zones must be extended to accommodate to park at least two busses. This will ease the traffic congestion at bus stops and maintain a smooth flow of traffic.
The current bus shelters are old fashioned, ugly and outdated. It is the right time to move away from old design of bus shelters. They have served their purpose, and now we have to move forward. The authorities could start a competition for a new design. It would help the authorities to build different types of bus stands within Colombo with a unique stop sign. This will beautify the City of Colombo to be on par with other cities in the world.
Buses and bus lanes
The government should stop importing Ashok Leyland and Tata buses from India. They are ugly and the body shape is outdated. It is right time to buy buses from other markets where buses are designed for tomorrow’s customers. This would encourage commuters to abandon their vehicles and hop into the buses. This will reduce the number of cars entering the city roads.
Most of the cities in the world have introduced bus lanes into their network. The Sri Lankan government should grasp this idea and install bus lanes in one- way streets within the limits of Colombo city. This approach will reduce the travel time to some destinations with the result that some commuters may prefer buses and ditch the car to go to work.
Role of the Traffic Police
The Traffic Police specialises in traffic enforcement, which takes care of safety work provided by the police. Traffic control and traffic direction are the main tasks of the Traffic Police. Traffic control is one attempt to solve the problem of human suvival on busy and crowded roads. The basic purpose of the Police Traffic Control Unit is to protect road users. Such control includes the protection of all road users against each other and even