THE ROLE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY IN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

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1 THE ROLE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY IN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FUNCTIONAL PAPER ON TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE Amal S. Kumarage Senior Lecturer, Transportation Engineering Division, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

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3 FUNCTIONAL PAPER ON TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE Amal S. Kumarage Senior Lecturer, Transportation Engineering Division, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. ABSTRACT Transport is integrated to all aspects of society and the economy. This paper attempts to understand the relationship that transport has to the development of the sectors of focus at the BICOST-II Conference. These sectors are Foods and Agriculture Health and Environment and Trade and Industry The paper identifies several areas for developing the transport sector to achieve development in the food and agricultural sectors in Sri Lanka. These include areas of inter-regional highways, rural roads, transport vehicles, goods handling and packaging, as well as the design and location of agricultural markets. In the health and environmental sectors, attention has been draw to the effects of traffic congestion particularly on air quality, the impact of transport related pollution and the high toll on the burden of disease resulting from road traffic accidents. The investigation into the impacts for the development of trade and industry looks at the sitting and the transport infrastructure requirements for establishing industrial estates. Furthermore, discussion is made on how transport access and mobility could be improved for developing each of the provinces or regions within Sri Lanka for specific industrial growth. The transport requirement for the growth of cities, particularly Colombo and steps required to make the transport facilities in such cities of a modern standard is also discussed in detail. 1. BACKGROUND TO SRI LANKA S TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE Colombo has been the Primate City and Sri Lanka s commercial and administrative capital for several hundred years. This has also meant that Colombo has been a transportation terminus or node, with the seaport and more recently the airport providing the interface for interchange between internal and international transport of both goods and passengers. Thus Colombo has been the focal point of external trade links as well. During the period of colonial rule, the regional transport networks within Sri Lanka were developed on this basis. In the case of the Dutch who ruled during a period where water transport was widely used, developed an extensive network of Canals centered on the Colombo port. The growth of the coconut industry particularly that of copra and desiccated oil in the north-western coastal areas, as well as spices from the south-western coastal board was due to the canal system of over 200 kms which transported these to Colombo for export to Europe. The period of British rule coincided with the development of railways in many parts of the world. It was introduced to this country in the latter half of the 19 th century and this was used for the development of rubber and tea industries in many parts of the country, particularly in the up to then under developed hill country. The railway network was later supplemented by the trunk road system in the early part of the 20 th century. 1

4 1.1. Status of Sri Lanka s Present Day Transport Infrastructure It has been observed in Kumarage (1998) that Sri Lanka has a high road density when compared with its per capita income. Interesting questions are asked therein, why economic growth in proportional terms has not followed the continuing investment in new roads. Recent research has found (Litmann, 1999) that road density beyond a certain point does not translate to economic benefits, especially when the burden of maintaining existing roads does not support the economic activity levels. This is because the large sums for maintenance of roads deprive much needed funds required for other developmental activities that are in turn required to generate economic activities. Due to this reason, in Sri Lanka, maintenance has been poor and the entire road network cannot be considered as being well maintained. More seriously, a very large part of the road network has to be rehabilitated as the original design life has been overrun. This is mostly due to the unsustainabiliy of the extent of the network and partly due to the non-existence of a highway master plan. Till 1986, expenditure in the road sector was heavily tilted towards maintenance, averaging around 30% of all annual expenditure. This was due to the policy of maintaining the large rural road system predominantly as a welfare measure for rural and remote communities. While this achieved some of the desired objectives of providing rural accessibility, it also effectively prevented the construction of modern limited access roads between urban centers. An analysis of the road densities in Sri Lanka (Kumarage, 1998) reveals that the top of the road hierarchy is under represented. This means that Sri Lanka does not have a suitable network of trunk roads befitting modern technological standards. The speeds at present, average between kms per hour in the Western Province and in the hill country and between kms per hour in other areas. The railways though having a wide network of lines radiating from Colombo has failed to match the roads and their share of passenger and goods traffic has dropped to less than 5 percent in either case. This is mostly due to the fact that the railway has not provided adequate reliability and speed to compete effectively with road transport. The railway does however offer more competition in the Colombo Metropolitan Region, particularly during peak periods when trains run to capacity and are faster than road traffic. However, continuously ineffective management and lack of a service orientation have not enabled the railway to fully exploit the advantages of rail operations in urban areas, even though Colombo in particular is well predisposed towards an effective passenger service. 2. TRANSPORT REQUIREMENTS FOR DEVELOPING THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE SECTORS Food and agriculture are important economic sectors in Sri Lanka. Agriculture comprises mostly of paddy, pulses, vegetables and fruits. Plantation crops such as tea, rubber and coconut may also be included in the broader category. From a consideration of transport, animal husbandry and fisheries may also be also considered. These combine to contribute up to approximately 20% of the GDP (Central Bank Annual Report, 1998) at the present times. Moreover it is an important source of employment, absorbing approximately 36% of the entire employment opportunities available. Most of these agricultural products are also produced in other SAARC countries. With the introduction of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement, succeeded by the South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement in 1998, Sri Lankan agricultural products have had to compete with imports from other South Asian markets. In a paper studying the potential of the Sri 2

5 Lanka s connectivity to the Asian Highway (Kumarage, 1998a) it has been shown that presently shipping costs are highly competitive with road haulage. Thus importing agricultural products from other SAARC countries will become an increasingly common factor as the differences between the costs of internal freight haulage and that of international shipping keeps reducing. This would affect both the consumer who has to pay higher prices for essential food items grown locally, and also the producer who has to incur large transport costs discouraging him from producing more. In this background of competition for agricultural goods, the cost of transport becomes an important consideration in maintaining the stability and continuity of Sri Lanka s food and agricultural sectors. Transport costs include both the direct cost of haulage and also a number of hidden costs often ignored in policy making. These include the cost of delay, especially given the fact that the value of most agricultural products sharply drop with time due to their perishable nature. It also includes costs of damage in packaging and handling. The efficiency of the transport and distributing network is also critical in minimizing distances, transfers and double handling in the movement of produce between the farm-gate and the retail market. Figure 1, shows a typical access-hierarchy between human settlements as they are classified in Sri Lanka. The rural areas wherein most of the agricultural production takes place are thus dependant on a well laid out transport network to access markets, services, jobs which are usually available in the correspondingly higher order centers. COLOMBO 1 st Order Centre A Class GALLE MATARA 2 nd Order Centre B Class TANGALLE HAKMANA 3 rd Order Centre C Class MIDDENIYA WEERAKETIYA 4 th Order Centre D/E Class BELIGALGODELLA MEDAGAMA 5 th Order Figure 1: Access Hierarchy between Urban Centres Centre 3

6 As shown in Figure 1, a rational network of roads and rails is necessary such that each urban centre is connected to at least one urban centers of a larger magnitude. This should provide the basis for connecting production and consumption areas effectively and the creation of markets at suitable intermediary centers New Expressways Modern access-controlled inter-regional expressways that can give average speeds of between kms per hour are necessary to give the desired mobility of inter-regional travel in Sri Lanka. Such a network of expressways is necessary to promote the hierarchical development of urban centres, which is a foundational requirement for systematic growth of agricultural markets. Figure 2 shows a basic network of around 600~800 kms considered necessary for Sri Lanka s immediate requirements (Kumarage, 1998). It is shown that for a systematic regional development, this network should be centred on the Western Province and extended to the rest of the country within a year period at most. Such a network must also take into account the placement of regional agricultural markets, which was discussed earlier. This efficient connectivity between the producer areas, the regional markets and the retail markets is vital for the cost-effective transport of agricultural products Rural Roads Figure 2: Proposed Limited Access Highway Network New rural roads are usually justified on the basis that they provide access to remote communities that would otherwise be served only by footpaths. In rural areas, a walking distance of up to 3 or 4 kms is not considered excessive. However, such distances restrict the movement of agricultural produce as well as the transport of the sick and elderly. Given the fact that Sri Lanka's rural road network is not severely deficient in extent, its further expansion would have to be based on a rational policy of assessments of benefits to costs. In this context, the contribution of any proposed rural road to improving the productivity of land and human resources through agricultural development should be a primary criterion for improving rural access. The second dimension of availability is the reliability of the delivery 4

7 service. Reliability of rural roads includes the proper maintenance and periodic rehabilitation, as well as the regular operation of public or para transport services. For example, providing a paved road that cannot be maintained properly is a far worse situation than providing a lower grade gravel or compacted earth road. This is critical in order for vehicles to be able to access farms when agricultural crops are ready for harvest (University of Moratuwa, 1999) Rural Transport Vehicles The four and two wheeler tractors and since of late the three wheelers, are widely used in rural areas for the carriage of agricultural commodities. The wide mix of vehicle sizes and their operational characteristics enables a choice of vehicles based on size of load and type of terrain in most instances. However three wheelers in particular are not designed for the carriage of agricultural produce and damages in transport are considered higher. The most sought after transport service in rural areas is the bus. In fact, similar to the provision of rural roads, the State initiated many rural bus services during the 1950s and 1960s. The design of a bus should however vary depending on the transport requirements. For example, a bus serving a village comprising small holding agricultural lots, should ideally have sufficient and well-designed space for the transport of vegetables, fruits and other produce. A collection of such buses could be given to each bus depot to be used selectively on routes by rotating them when weekly fairs (polas) are held. Alternately, a policy of allowing multi-purpose (i.e. passengers & goods) transport services, perhaps using non-conventional vehicles may have to be adopted. Moreover, such vehicles could be chosen (or designed) according to the type of terrain and the type of road available. The requirement for typical allweather roads necessary for conventional bus services may also be circumvented The Transport Vehicle Refrigerated trucks are still sparsely used in the transport of agricultural products. Even though recent tax concessions have been provided, this remains a relatively undeveloped area. Except for a few marketing organizations that undertake their own transport, the regular transporters of perishable agricultural products have not improved the quality of transporting agricultural products. The primary reason for this is due to the individual transporters having no built in incentive to provide a better quality of service as their is no mechanism to receive a higher revenue for transporting their cargo in refrigerated trucks. The absence of refrigerated storage in Colombo is a further reason. Refrigerated trucks will become popular if the pricing structure of perishable commodities becomes adequately sensitive to quality Regional Wholesale Markets The Manning Market and 5 th Cross Street in Pettah has been historically the wholesale market for most agricultural products. Its success was unparalleled for many years, partly due to the centrality of location with respect to the consumers in the Western Province. It was also assisted by a trunk road system that radiated from Colombo to other provinces. In the present times, these factors are fast changing. Population centers are forming and being encouraged to form elsewhere in the Western Province in places such as Aturugiriya, Matugama etc (UDA, 1999). Moreover, the trunk road system has become congested and travel to the centre of the city has become time consuming and costly. Therefore, a new concept of markets and distribution patterns is timely. A new wholesale market suitably located in the Western Province, well connected to a few regional markets have become 5

8 necessary due to these changes. Already, such a regional market has evolved at Dambulla. There appears to be scope for at least two more regional markets, one in the south and one in the hill area Inaccessible to the Dambulla Special Economic Zone & Markets The transport linkages that make a market successful are often ignored in planning such facilities. For example, even though Dambulla is considered successful, the Uva province has poor access to Dambulla even though it is relatively close by. Farmers in Uva are unable to send their produce to Dambulla since there is no travel time advantage to lorry transporters in going to Dambulla. Whereas Colombo that takes the same travel time but offers a greater potential of a return haulage is Advantageous for road haulers. Thus if Uva produce is to reach the Dambulla market in significant volumes the travel time should be significantly reduced, especially from areas in Uva such as Welimada, Uva Paranagama and Bandarawela Facilities at Markets The Manning Market is the country s premier wholesale agricultural market. It is highly inefficient with waste, delay being very high. Most of these are transport related and are itemized as follows:. Poorly located so that access is difficult and slow for produce as well as buyers and sellers. Poorly designed internal roads totally inappropriate for loading and unloading of goods. Inadequate space for the parking of lorries, often overflowing to the Bastian Mawatha and beyond. A large number of three wheelers used in distribution have increased congestion within the market. A large fleet of push-carts and natamis milling around the lorries with little space makes mobility slows and difficult. Hundreds of individual consumers and commuters also use the retail facility of Manning Market thus adding to problems of congestion. Loading, unloading and carriage of goods between lorry and shop is done entirely manually. No new technology has been introduced Goods Handling Technology for a Market Complex The present system of loading/unloading and the carriage of goods between shops and lorries have not seen any technological improvements since the inception of agricultural marketing in Colombo. All packages are moved either manually or by a push cart. Presently, the entire process of unloading and loading is also manual. These movements are time consuming and clumsy and the result is that a large portion of produce is lost due to damage. This result in damage to commodities and delays all adding up to the final selling price. The proposed Warehousing Complex at Orugodawatte presents itself as an opportunity of introducing modern facilities, some of which are listed below: Improved designs of loading/unloading bays that are designed at tailgate height. Improved transport containers such as crates and boxes instead of traditional gunnysacks. Minimizing of excessive handling by proper internal circulation, storage and retrieval. Provision of cold storage facilities to encourage refrigerated transport. 6

9 A new market complex should anticipate the introduction of new technology even at a later stage if the high unemployment and traditional practices do not permit a sudden and immediate change. Thus modern loading and unloading bays as well as internal delivery systems should be planned. Mechanical systems either through using moving belt technology similar to baggage handling at airports or a system of mechanically operated trolleys that pick up and deliver between lorries and shops should be planned. The physical loading and unloading from lorries should also be planned to introduce forklift type of operations. For example the lorry loading ramps should be build up to platform level so that an unloading machine could be driven inside the lorry. This could be introduced in stages so as not to deprive the natamis out of jobs. However, this will become an important element of a successful market and improving efficiency would not be possible unless such measures are implemented. 3. TRANSPORT REQUIREMENTS FOR DEVELOPING THE ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH SECTORS Transport is directly related to the environment and the health of the population of a city or a country. A clean and healthy environment is increasing at stake with rapid motorization especially in situations where the provision of road space required cannot be provided without seriously affecting the environment. This is made worse when as a result of poorly planned out transport policies road congestion increases particularly in urban areas. Another problem affecting the health of a country is the high burden of disease imposed due to traffic accidents Traffic Congestion Congested road conditions can have seriously detrimental effects on the environment, in particular air quality and noise pollution. Congestion arises due to increase vehicles on the road. Ironically this happens mostly during traffic peaks, when the most number of people are on the roads as well. This means large numbers of people become vulnerable to respiratory diseases such as asthma -widely prevalent today. To some people, congested highways are also a symptom of deteriorating quality-of-life-in a community. The amount of time that is spent on commuting to and from work is also in reality, time that is taken away from social interactions or pursuit of activities that have a personal value and satisfaction. Increasing social problems referred to as Highway Rage (or Road Rage) experienced in many countries where drivers show hostility to each other most often due to the frustration of slow moving traffic is becoming a serious social problem as well. The strategy for managing traffic congestion requires a scientific approach. This begins with determining the level of traffic that a city or metropolitan area can sustain. The present rates of vehicle ownership in Sri Lanka, is around 74 vehicles per 1000 persons. This increases to 97 per 1000 in the Western Province. In Colombo District, this increases further to 141 per In Colombo City, this is even higher at 262 per The fact that within most parts of Colombo City and also in many parts of the Colombo District, traffic congestion is a regular feature indicates quite clearly that the present level of vehicle ownership therein, cannot be sustained. This as described before, is because the demand that these vehicles generate cannot be matched by the provision of the required increase in road space. This means that the saturation levels for the present transport infrastructure appears to have been already reached in these areas. This is saturation level is based on three distinct parameters. 7

10 Population Density Performance of Public Transport Road Length Table 1 shows the corresponding land use density, incomes and performance of public transport associated with the respective levels of sustainability in vehicle ownership. On an international comparison, the ownership of vehicles in cities in the USA, Canada and Australia show that sustainability levels can be as high as between 600 to 700 vehicles per 1000 persons. These rates are associated with, high incomes and low levels of public transport use at less than 5%. The population density of these cities is generally low and below 25 persons per hectare. Most European Cities on the other hand, maintain incomes comparable to the earlier group of cities, but have significantly higher public transport patronage of around 25%. In these instances, the vehicle ownership rate appears to saturate at around 300 to 400 vehicles per 1000 persons. In these cities however, population density is higher (25-75 persons/ha). Most cities also apply some degree of traffic restraint usually in the form of parking limitations. The third group refers mostly to Asian cities, where vehicle ownership levels seem to taper off at even lower levels. Public transport in these cities is between 50-80%. This is achieved by intensifying improvements to public transport and simultaneously applying equally intense traffic and even vehicle ownership restrain measures. These cities have much higher population densities at over 75 persons/ha. Table 1: Vehicle Ownership Saturation Levels with Urban Parameters Car Population Share of Population Roads Ownership Density Public Density (m/person) Saturation (persons/ha) Transport (per 1000 p) Restrictions Little or no Low < 25 > 4 < 5% restriction on ownership. Moderate % Some traffic and parking restrictions Traffic and High > 75 < % Ownership Restrictions Based on a comparison of the above cities in Sri Lanka, which in most cases have low road densities and high population densities and are presently public transport oriented, would only be able to sustain relatively lower levels of traffic and correspondingly lower vehicle ownership (CUTS 2, 1999). Higher levels would become unsustainable resulting in low travel speeds, environmental problems, parking problems and overall high cost of mobility. Table2: Critical Parameters Determining Sustainable Vehicle Ownership in CMR Region Vehicle Ownership Level 1998 Share of Public Transport 1998 Population Density (per/ha) Road Density (m/person) Desired Vehicle Ownership Saturation Level (per 1000 persons) CMC % Colombo District % CMR 97 60% Sri Lanka 74 60%

11 As shown in Table 2, in the case of the Colombo City which has in excess of saturation has already been reached, whereas in other parts of Colombo District, where on account of the fact that public transport has a good coverage, it would be most desirable to target for saturation levels of around 300 vehicles per 1000 persons. In this case, there is some growth possible before saturation occurs. Such a situation can only be arrived through specific interventionist policies that bring about balanced transport growth (e.g. as the New Deal Transport Policy in the U.K.). It is clear that without any interventionist measures, vehicle ownership will continue to increase with incomes and traffic congestion will continue. This should then influence all transport policy and infrastructure planning within the CMR and its sub regions. This would mean that policy directive should be aimed at controlling vehicle use starting from the CMC and then spreading to Colombo District before extending to all of the CMR. Such policy should take into account steps to maintain the public transport share, while planning for traffic restraint measures and measures to manage the ownership and use of private vehicles. Such a process for solving traffic congestion involves a scientific approach that can be outlined as follows: The Short-Term Strategy 1. Managing the Transport Supply: Managing the transportation system by adding new facilities or by making operational changes to improve system performance is the most common response by engineers and even politicians and administrators to solve congestion problems. These measures can be better understood by classifying such attempts as follows. (a) Adding new transport infrastructure capacity (b) Improving existing infrastructure for increasing capacity (c) Operational Improvements to existing infrastructure to increase capacity 2. Managing the Transportation Demand: In its broadest sense, demand management is any action or set of actions intended to influence the intensity, timing, and spatial distribution of transportation demand for the purpose of reducing the impact of traffic flow. These can be categorized under the headings. (a) Re-distribution of the spatial form of the demand for transport: (b) Re-distribution of the temporal pattern of the demand for transport: (c) Re-distributions of demand between the modes of transport: Long-Term Strategy Solving traffic congestion in the long-term however requires even wider strategies and policies. These can be identified in to four categories. These are also discussed in brief. (a) A land-use strategy compatible with transport capacity (b) A Vehicle Ownership strategy compatible with road capacity (c) A strategy for public transport compatible with population density (d) A strategy for new modes of public transport compatible with personal incomes Death & Injury The World Health Organisation (WHO, 1999) has drawn attention to the steady increase in the burden of disease caused by traffic accidents. The statistics for 1998 indicate that out of a reported 6 million injuries world wide, nearly 20 percent were due to road traffic accidents, ahead of suicides, homicides and even war. Deaths due to road accidents are presently ranked 9

12 10 th in causes of all death (natural deaths included), but are projected to occupy the rank 3 by the year It is however, at present the leading cause of death in the ages up to 50 years. The number of road accidents reported in Sri Lanka has topped 50,000 for the past few years and has been steadily increasing at over 4.3% per annum over the last 20-year period. Among these are many accident fatalities numbering over 2,000, which are also increasing at 3.6% per annum. This increase can be best understood in relation to a number of features such as; (a) Increasing population; (b) Increasing vehicle ownership rate (where vehicle fleet is growing much faster than the population); (c) The subsequent shift from safer modes of public transport to less safer private transport modes (e.g. from bus to motor cycle); (d) The partial de-regulation of bus operations and the subsequent lowering of safety standards especially among private bus operators and (e) The increasing mobility of Sri Lankans due to increasing incomes. By a simple comparison of road accident fatalities with total deaths recorded in Sri Lanka in 1997 (Department of Census and Statistics, 1998), it transpires that 1 in 60 deaths in Sri Lanka occur due to a road accident. In 1977 this ratio was 1 in 127 deaths. It should be noted that in developed countries, the probability of death due to road traffic accident is even higher recording 1 in 25 deaths (WHO, 1999). Kumarage, Abeygunawardena and Wijesundera (2000) show that the risk is seen to increase mostly for vehicle users (i.e. motorists) rather than for pedestrians, even though the fatality rate for pedestrians too has increased by around 10% over 20 years. But this is marginal when compared to the increase of nearly 200% for vehicle users. Thus it can be concluded that while the fatality rate among pedestrians indicates that safety has deteriorated marginally for them, the most significant increase in accidents is observable among those using vehicles. This of course is mostly due to the increasing vehicle use by the population. A further analysis of the risk among the different vehicle users has shown that it is highest among pedal cyclists, followed by motorcyclists. The lowest fatality rate is for public transport users. The economic loss of such accidents is estimated to be in the range of nearly Rs 10 billion annually. Table 3: Vehicular particulate emissions and hospital admissions/deaths from respiratory diseases. Hospital death rate 2 Vehicular Particulate emissions Hospital Admissions rate Environmental Pollution There is little information on the health damage to vehicular emissions in Sri Lanka. Although there are many limitations (as noted by the authors), this is also the only study that is based on clinical data. Table 3 gives comparisons made by Chandrasiri and Jayasinghe 1 admissions are recorded for diseases of the respiratory system (excluding URT diseases, pneumonia, bronchopneumonia and influenza), per 100,000 population 2 hospital deaths from the same causes, per 1000 population 10

13 (1998) between recorded vehicle emissions and hospital admission with respect to respiratory diseases. It also states that 94% of hospital physicians interviewed asserted that the increase in respiratory diseases was related to vehicle emissions. A fuller discussion on the impacts of vehicular emissions in Colombo city can be found in the recent work by Munasinghe, et al (2002). 4. TRANSPORT REQUIREMENTS FOR DEVELOPING THE TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL SECTORS Sri Lanka has been attempting to develop its industrial and commercial capabilities in recent years. The growth in this respect has been far from satisfactory. The poor state of infrastructure facilities has often been cities as a primary reason. The growth of industries require good linkages between the inputs required for production namely access to resources as well as employees. The ability to transport goods to and from markets or ports efficiently and reliably is a fundamental requirement. The comfortable and convenient travel for its employees to and from homes is another vital requirement. Fast and reliable travel for the business purposes particularly within important metropolitan areas is also vital for development of modern commercial centers Industrial Locations However, in Sri Lanka no specific transport developments were linked with industrial attempts since independence. The small to medium scale industries that have begin in Sri Lanka over the last thirty years or so, have for the vast majority been located in the Colombo and Gampaha district. This is due to the availability of suitable human resources and the density of development in these districts as well as the close proximity to the Port of Colombo. It has been noted by Kumarage (1998) that over 80 percent of small and medium scale industries have located within one hours travel distance from the port. This has caused an imbalance in economic growth between regions in Sri Lanka. Moreover it has put tremendous pressure on the Western Province to provide the infrastructure, services and employment required for these ever growing industries, while other regions languish for want of industries. These factors has put the road transport system in the Western Province in to a crisis as evident by the chronic congestion and generally slow traffic speeds mostly due to haphazard roadside development that has taken place. Due to this poor state of affairs the potential for further industrial growth in Western Province or the CMR is now doubtful. This is based on the hypothesis that a good transportation system is an important selling point to communities that desire to attract development that provides for employment and growth. If transport costs due to congestion increase, goods and services produced within that city tend to increase in costs thus losing competitiveness in international markets. Efficient transportation access is therefore a very important consideration as it has a direct impact on sound and sustainable economic growth and productivity. The cost of congestion in the Western Province of Sri Lanka is over Rs 20,000 million per year (around 3 percent of Regional GDP). This has to be ultimately borne by the production of goods and services in the area. It adds to the cost of production and diminishes the potential for income growth and also diminishes prospects for further investments New Industrial Estates The University of Moratuwa (1999) carried out a transport study of Avissawella town with respect to the development potential of the Seethawaka Industrial Estate (SIE) situated within 11

14 its urban limits. The SIE at full operational capacity requires around 20,000 direct employment at the proposed 78 factories and a further 9,000 indirect jobs within the Avissawella city limits. A further 9,000 jobs are anticipated as indirect employment elsewhere in the region. It had been estimated at the time of planning the SIE that 53,000 unemployed persons presently reside in an area of 12 km radius that could be employed. However, the university study points out that the present condition of the transport services does not enable all these potential employees to take up employment at the SIE. This is because in order for persons to travel to work, they should be within a travel to work catchment area. If sufficient persons do not live within this catchment area, then it is most likely that filling vacancies within the SIE would be come difficult. The study points out that by comparing the current wages, transport costs, value of time and accommodation costs, the potential catchment area should be defined in terms of travel time rather than distance. It thus appears that one and half to two hours journey time should be considered as the commuting threshold for employees living within the catchment area of the SIE. This reduces the potential work force to 23,000 employees far below the original estimate (Figure 3). 12 Figure 3: Travel Threshold Based Catchment Area for SIE in Avissawella

15 Clearly this would be insufficient to meet the requirements of the SIE and its associated developments. Transport based solutions for this are given as: a) Improve the transport network in order to extend the travel based catchment area accessible within two hours; b) Increase potential for hostels and lodging facilities within walking distance (less than 1.5 kms) to the SIE; c) Increase potential for boarding facilities within commuting distance (less than 10 kms) to SIE; d) Combination of one or more of the above Developing the Industrial Potential of Regions Many regions in Sri Lanka outside of the Western Province have very little industrial development. Kumarage (2000) shows that in Uva Province, which has one of the lowest per capita incomes, there are only a handful of establishments in the manufacturing industry (other than agro processing which is included under agriculture). However, the potential of the tourist industry does not seem to have been fully exploited in this province. It was observed that there are many places of cultural and scenic beauty that are of tourist interest. Uva is in many aspects a most diverse tourist destination, but largely under patronized. The reason for this is the poor connectivity to Uva from other parts of the country. For example, the connection between the popular coastal areas spanning from Beruwala and Negombo with Uva are extremely poor. Even to access Uva from Nuwera Eliya or Kandy (the popular hill country resorts) is time consuming. More homogenous tourist locations such as Habarana and Dambulla have in recent times become more popular among both foreign and local tourist as against Uva, where foreigners are seen in isolated numbers and locals visit largely for the purpose of enjoying the climate during a period of three to four weeks per year. While it could be argued that hotel and other tourist facilities are also under developed, the basic problem is one of transport connectivity. This study suggests a transportation strategy to promote tourism in Uva. Among these is an approach to Uva directly from Kandy without climbing up to Nuwera Eliya (where tourist would stop) and the re-creation of the Royal Routes constructed by kings in olden days Creation of Tourist Routes and Access within Uva The tourist potential in Uva could be well blended with the highway planning so that as in other countries, thematic highways especially designed with out-of-province tourists in mind are designed and engineered. Many tourists prefer destinations that have varied attractions ranging from scenic beauty, wild life, cultural and religious value. The highways in Uva could integrate such places and create such tourist routes. The most important such route that can be recreated is the Raja Mawatha from Tissamaharama to Polonnaruwa. This route then connects Tissamaharama, (Yala) - Kataragama- Buttala (Maligawila) Badalkumbura- Medagama (Inginiyagala Nat. Park)- Bibile - Mahiyangana (Wasgomuwa Nat. Park) Siripura Dimbulagala to Polonnaruwa. The total distance is 255 kms, and if connected by the existing road network with minor improvements and a few new links it can be traveled within six hours. Such a route would indeed be a popular route for both local and foreign tourist. Adjacent urban areas such as Ella and Bandarawela may also benefit by tourists who may chose stopovers for the climatic attractions and the terrain. 13

16 Another potential tourist route maybe the recreation of the other Raja Mawatha, which connected Kandy to Badulla during the period of the Kandyan Kingdom through Bogoda and Walapane. Moreover, there is much potential within the province to declare several highways as protected and specially developed for the purpose of enhancing the scenic beauty for the traveler. Special building regulations would have to be enacted to prevent constructions that may sever such view. Special turnouts for viewing such places would be most useful Developing the Potential of Cities Cities are vital for the growth of countries. The ability for cities to develop in trade and commercial activities is critical for the growth of other sectors in rural and provincial areas. For this purpose, urban areas should have well functioning transport systems. Colombo for example has not had any significant development in its transport infrastructure or services for a considerable period of time. As pointed out earlier, Colombo will have to continue to depend on public transport as a primary mode of passenger travel. However, its bus terminals have continually been neglected to a point of been an embarrassment. Even though the city has grown and developed in many aspects over the last decade, the central bus station has remained in Pettah, outgrowing its physical environment. Kumarage (2001) has suggested the redevelopment of the bus terminals in order to better serve the present day needs of the traveling public. The following recommendation are made: (a) New Multi-Modal (train/bus) terminals at Fort-Pettah, Dematagoda, Borella and Narahenpita. (b) New Bus terminals at Grandpass and Pamankade to accommodate bus services running through city terminating at each end. (c) Well-designed rail to bus transfer locations adjacent to the railway stations at Maradana, Slave Island, Kirulapone, Wellawatte, Bambalapitiya and Kollupitiya. (d) A set of bus-to-bus transfer locations at locations such as Fort, Kotahena, Armour Street, Town Hall and Tunmulla. In addition a modern city should think of rail based public transport. Revitalising the existing railway offers tremendous potential. However, in order to attract private vehicle users from their cars and vans, Light Rapid Transit (LRT) is suggested as a potential mode (WS Atkins, 1999). This reports sets out several corridors on which LRT could operate at economic viability. 5. CONCLUSIONS This paper has investigated the transport sector requirements for developing three sectors in Sri Lanka: Foods and Agriculture Health and Environment and Trade and Industry The emphasis on the use of Science in Technology in these tasks can be further identified as follows: Developing New Expressways: The expressways need to be planned out on well-established transport planning methodologies that takes into account developmental benefits as well as 14

17 transport network connectivity. The University of Moratuwa (1999) has developed an indigenous transport-planning model that has been used in some of the recent studies on expressways. Such planning software should be further developed to determine even the mode of transport that should be used rather than deciding a priory that expressways are the most appropriate transport infrastructure. Rural Roads: The extensive network of rural roads requires research for developing costeffective methods of maintenance and rehabilitation. Furthermore a rational means of determining the benefit cost assessment of new roads is also required to ensure that new investments in rural roads is justified. The Transport Vehicle: Research and development initiatives are required to design and popularize rural multi-purpose vehicles as well as vehicles for the transport of agricultural produce. Regional Wholesale Markets: Location theory and transport planning approaches should be applied in determining the location for regional wholesale markets so that transport costs are minimised and the benefits of such reductions could be transferred to both producers as well as consumers. Facilities at Markets: New markets should be designed to standards that would ensure high efficiency, waste minimisation, and lower turnaround times for transport vehicles. A planning approach and design suitable for Sri Lanka has been discussed in a study of the proposed Orugodawatte Wholesale Complex (University of Moratuwa, 2000). This includes a suitable goods handling system, vehicle parking system and internal stall layout that would optimise total operational cost of the facility. Traffic Congestion: The solution of traffic congestion requires the application of wellresearched methods some of which have already been a successfully applied in other countries. The need to modify these according to local situations and to come up with traffic demand strategies requires a scientific approach. This also requires the development of traffic models and the application of traffic theory in determining most effective methods of managing road space. Death & Injury: The increasing burden of disease suffered by the country due to traffic accidents requires urgent attention to mitigate both the incidence of accidents as well as the severity of injuries. Following strategies adopted in many other countries, Sri Lanka too requires setting out a scientific process of understanding the reasons why accidents occur. This type of research allows for the identification and modification of the different factors that causes accidents, such as road design, vehicle fitness, driver training, enforcement, road user education etc. Industrial Locations: Industries to be successful should be located in areas where the access to markets and sources of resources, particularly labor is optimal. Transport Planning should be a pre-requisite to proper sitting of industrial estates to ensure a close development of industrial infrastructure and transport facilities. Developing the Industrial Potential of Regions: Regional potential for attracting industrial growth depends to a large extent on the access to other regions and especially to large commercial centres, the port and airport. In this respect the development of critical transport links is vital. Scientifically developed planning tools such as the TransPlan model should be 15

18 used prior to making decision on investing in expensive transport infrastructure to ensure that the intended regional benefits could be achieved. Developing the Potential of Cities: The potential for growth in urban areas is an important selling point for cities. Transport is a vital component in such a process. The ability to plan out traffic circulation systems, public transport systems, terminals and rapid transit systems are part of a successful urban transport system. The complexities of urban transport could only be handled by application of the proper transport planning methodologies and the software that is available today. 6. REFERENCES Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Annual Report, S. Chandrasiri and S. Jayasinghe, Health Effects of Vehicular emissions in Colombo, University of Colombo, ISS Project Working Paper Series, 9805, Dec Department of Census & Statistics, Statistical Abstracts, Kumarage Amal S., Sri Lanka s Highway Network and its Connectivity to the Asian Highway, 1 st ASEAN Conference on Infrastructure Planning & Management, Bankok, September, Kumarage Amal S., Formulation of Policy Framework for Poverty Alleviation: Transport, November, Kumarage Amal S., Improvements to Access and Mobility in the Highway Network in Uva Province, Kumarage Amal S., Cammilus Abeygunawardena & R. Wijesundera, Analysis of Accident Trends in Sri Lanka, Annual Session, Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, Litman Todd, Potential TDM Strategies, VTPI ( Munasinghe M, et al, Environmental Impacts of Transportation Sector Options in Sri Lanka, World Bank Monogram, University of Moratuwa, Assessing Public Investment in the Transport Sector, September University of Moratuwa, Transport Plan for Development of Avissawella Town, University of Moratuwa, TransPlan V3- A National Traffic Estimation Model for Sri Lanka, University of Moratuwa, Traffic and Transportation Plan For The Shifting Of The Vegetable Wholesale Trading Activities From Manning Market To Orugodawatte, November WHO, Injury: A Leading Cause of the Global Burden of Disease, Geneva, Switzerland, WS Atkins, Colombo Urban Transport Study- Part 2, Ministry of Transport & Highway,