Efficient transport a prerequisite for economic development
An efficient transport service is one of the pre conditions for economical and social development in a country. In this context, transport can play a vital role in achieving an annual economic growth from 8 percent to 10percent, minimizing regional economic disparities and reducing poverty.
It is not possible to achieve economic and social development without development of transport and vice versa. Transport service is an input for almost all production and provision of services. Therefore, provision of an efficient transport service causes increase in productivity. Thereby the production cost of goods and services can be reduced and it will improve efficiency of the entire production process and the productivity of the country.
In line to reduce economic and social disparities in inter-provincial and intra-provincial, infrastructure facilities relating to transport sector should be improved and sufficient number of buses should be provided to operate service successfully. Transportation contributes to reduce poverty by means of reducing production cost, getting competitive and paving way to access new opportunities.
According to the progress report 2008, which was presented by Ministry of Transport recently it noted that, for the development of transport services the following five approaches have been adopted; increase quantity and quality of transport service, provide adequate number of buses to operate basic bus service, minimize financial losses of state passenger transport sector by increasing efficiency, revitalize school bus service, and avoid public and private sector monopoly in the bus sector and ensure the people’s right to travel.
During the year 2007 the contribution of the transport service to GDP was 10.9 percent, public investments were Rs.18,494 million and subsidy for operating buses on uneconomic routes Rs.300 million.
Lack of organization and sustainability is the main issue for the development of of the transport sector as an industry. This issue arises due to absence of a national transport policy and proper planning system. To fill this gap a national transport policy has been prepared. It has now been opened up for the comments and views of all stakeholders, the report said.
Urbanization is an outcome of economic development of the country. One main problem in urban areas is traffic congestion. Due to heavy traffic jamming fuel consumption has increased rapidly and it is cost to the economy. Under these circumstances, people in the country have to spend a large sum of money for fuel. As a result of congestion, air pollution has increased and it leads to increase of various diseases in urban areas.
Having identified the adverse impact on traffic congestion, the government has paid special attention to this issue and prepared a three year plan and it is now being implemented. The main object of this plan is to reduce utilization of private vehicles and promotion of public transport. For this, it is planned to spend Rs.10 billion. The main elements of this programme are; new mode of transport, introduction of Bus rapid transit system instead of traditional bus for selected areas, and utilization of railway for goods transport. To reduce traffic congestion in urban areas train services will be used for transportation of goods from identified places to the harbour, the report highlighted.
The number of road accidents per day has increased to about 95 and the fatal accidents has reached six per day.
The Ministry of Transport has formulated a methodology to grant compensation to victims of hit and run accidents. Compensation for those victims is paid by the National Road Safety Secretariat in the Ministry. Rs.50, 000 is paid to the dependents of the victim. Under this programme three victims have so far been paid compensation and about 45 applications requesting compensation have been received. Further a number of awareness programmes have been conducted in many areas on minimization of road accidents. Meanwhile, electronic equipment to monitor speed limits has been imported the report added.
Furthermore a monopolistic market situation for passenger transport is not suitable, since operators attempt to maximize profit and it will not meet public needs. To evade such a situation the government has directly intervened to provide passenger transport services to the public and also has ensured the continuation of the service. Sri Lanka Transport Board, as the state agency involved in passenger transport, will maintain the government contribution of approximately 25% in the passenger market. With the growth of the State sector, rules and regulations will be introduced to strengthen bus sector.
The Railway has not spread all over the island, but its contribution for passenger and goods transport cannot be underestimated. Amongst the land transportation modes railway is recognized as an economical mode of transport. The unit cost of railways for passenger and goods transportation is comparatively low for a large number of passengers and bulk of goods transport. Thus, the railway could play an enormous role in transportation of goods such as oil, cement, flour as well as passengers in urban areas, the report noted.
By Charumini de Silva
Source: The Island
Tags: economic development, economic disparities, economic growth, efficient transport, financial losses, goods transportation, heavy traffic, infrastructure facilities, passenger transport, passengers, private vehicles, public investments, railways, rapid transit system, school bus service, social development, social disparities, speed limits, traffic congestion, train services, transport service, transport services
