Light Rail Transit may not be right now
With the cost of the proposed LRT system we could modernise every bus, every bus stop, bus terminal and bus route and service in the entire Western Province for less than half the cost and provide bus priority or Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Lanes on each of the corridors and major roads wherever possible across the province.
It has been announced that Light Rail Transit or LRT has been proposed for Colombo. It will certainly provide modern, fast and comfortable transport for those who can afford it. However LRT is an expensive mode of urban transport. In fact it will cost Rs 7 billion for each km and over Rs 500 billion for the 75 km that has been proposed.
Investment in urban transport is complex and a city’s social, economic, aesthetic, environmental conditions will be determined by what transport technologies are to be used. Urban transport in Colombo is a growing concern. The increasing traffic blocks we experience are simply because the public transport system was ignored over the last fifty years.
Since Independence, travel by car was seen as a sign of personal prosperity and many of those who had the means to use a private vehicle -- even at Government expense -- considered themselves to be elitist and above the masses who had to cope with poor quality public transport. Improving public transport never found reason or logic in the minds of politicians or top bureaucrats until the stark reality that two wheelers, then three wheelers and finally four wheelers became affordable to even the so called lower middle classes.
The resulting congestion sent shock waves through the car owners. The promise of one-way systems and flyovers and even elevated expressways to cope with this explosion of vehicle son the roads, was seen not to provide relief in the long term. Transport professionals who had campaigned for public transport as the way forward for development were finalheard. The statement by the Prime Minister in Parliament during the last budget was a welcome shift in government policy on funding the modernisation of public transport.
Good policy decisions must follow sound technical decisions. Countries that have well developed urban transport systems and cities that are now building such have one thing in common. They have found the most appropriate and affordable mix of urban transport technologies. Some get it right and others don’t. It is simple as that. Those that get urban transport right prosper and others struggle. The basic difference is the political culture of determining what transport technology is needed as against what is wanted.
There is no doubt that I would personally like to have a 75 km network of LRT in Colombo. This would cost the equivalent of Rs 100,000 investment per person or nearly half a million rupee per family lilving in the Western Province. It will cover only a few areas in and around Colombo -it would not serve anyone outside Colombo and Battaramulla areas. In fact even if it runs full, only less than 10% of the people in Western Province or the Megapolis area would be benefited by this.
As such, the investment per family that would use it on regular basis would be Rs. 5 million-- the cost of an expensive car or own bus. Moreover the operating cost of LRT is known to be at least 5 times the cost of providing even a luxury bus services. If fares are to set to recover operating costs, it will not be possible to fill the trains even at peak period and the operations will have to be subsidised. On the other hand, fares will have to be subsidised to encourage passengers to move from cheaper transport such as buses and trains. In either case the poorer sections of society will end up subsidising the richer. As we have experienced in the case of expressways the cost of building when not paid for by the users will eventually become a tax burden on everyone.
Furthermore, LRT requires a 7-8 m wide elevated structure that will cut off sun- light over the roadways and diminish the livability and aesthetics of a city. This is especially important since most of our roads have only four lanes. The impact that this will have on some areas of the city and on the unique historicity and beauty will be questionable. The impact that the construction of the LRT which needs columns of 2 m width (smaller is more costly) on centre medians of roads as have been proposed will have on increased cost of congestion for 4-5 years will also add to hundreds of billion rupees.
So, should we not have LRT? My answer is that it is too early to build such a vast network. With the cost of the proposed LRT system we could modernise every bus, every bus stop, bus terminal and bus route and service in the entire Western Province for less than half the cost and provide bus priority or Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Lanes on each of the corridors and major roads wherever possible across the province. We could also electrify all our railway lines in the Western Province and build another 50 km of new track. We could modernise every train to have AC, every station, implement modern fare systems, passenger information system and a host of other features we see in developed cities.
Moreover, the benefit will daily impact at least 60% of the passengers. Thus a much lower investment will benefit many more people. It is actually even politically more expedient. Moreover such an investment will be sustainable as most of the investment comes from private sector and users will be able to pay for the system without getting other sections of society to subsidies.
There is still no feasibility report for the LRT. As usual suppliers and manufacturers have advertised the project as finalised. No responsible government that genuinely desires sustainable development would want to risk undertaking such a large investment without a quality feasibility study. We should learn from recent experiences in Sri Lanka where expressways, ports and airports were decided without feasibility studies.
The present Government has stated how loans taken for such projects have become a burden on the people and a reason for the recent increase in taxes. As such the decision to build LRT should only be taken as a correct signal of the Government to improve urban public transport. The economic, technical, social and environmental feasibility should be left to professional study and careful public scrutiny and debate. In short it should be a transparent and democratic process. It should be borne in mind that development cannot be achieved without first restoring the value of professional practices.
(The writer is Senior Professor, Transport & Logistics Department of the University of Moratuwa)