"Is Bus Rapid Transit a Viable Solution to Relieve

Congested Road Space in Colombo?"

Delivered by

Tr. (Eng. Dr.) T. Sivakumar

Senior Lecturer
Dept. of Transport & Logistics Management
Faculty of Engineering
University of Moratuwa
Sri Lanka

1. Background
Cities in developing countries are facing severe
transportation related problems due to rapid growth in
economy, urbanization as well as migration of people to
cities. When consider Asia as a whole, with almost 3.9
billion people, Asia has 61% of the world population. Its
share of the world population rose from 9% in 1920 to
more than 48% in 2005, and expected to reach 54% in
20301. The Figure-1 shows the trend of urban population
growth rate. ADB has estimated that 80% of Asia's new
economic growth will in future be generated in its urban
economics. However, there will also be large numbers of
urban residents who are poor. The Figure-2 shows the
urban status and trend. This mixture of different income
group population makes the urban transportation
problems in developing countries much more complex.
The Figure-3 depicts this complex as vicious-circle of
urban degradation.

Figure 1 Urban Population Growth in billions2

1

ADB, 2010, Sustainable Transport Initiative, Manila.

UN,2006, Dept.of Economic and Social Affairs,Population Division.

Figure 2 Urban Population Status and Trend3

Figure 3 Vicious Circle of Urban Transport Degradation

Although both high income population and low income

population demands for more and more transport
facilities but due to their varied affordability their mode
preference also varies. It causes congestion because of
limited capacity existence with excesses demand. The
real challenge faced by the transport professionals is how
to break this vicious circle and to relieve congestion.
2. Unlearning Traditional Unrealistic Assumptions
Humankind is fascinated with speed. Speed escalation
during the early twentieth century was too much for
3

World Bank Report, 2005.

professional disciplines, politicians and the society.

Effortlessness of speed has not been understood till today.
Due to rapid changes we have not had enough time to
understand the systemic effects of speed, since engineers,
politicians and society were happy with the new
opportunities and could not recognize the losses that go
hand in hand with promoting speed. If we examine the
transport science we have to recognize that what operates
is a kind of ideology instead of rationality and in
transport policy what works is an increasing populism
instead of responsibility7. The most common dogmas and
myths are: (a) growth of mobility, (b) saving time by
increasing speed, (c) freedom of modal choice.
2.1 Growth of Mobility
With increasing motorization mobility increases. The
number of trips a person makes a day increases with
number of cars per inhabitants. More cars mean more
mobility. In textbooks of the twentieth century, this was
the traditional definition of mobility. We failed to ask
why mobility outside the house is necessary. Each trip is
related to a purpose. This purpose is to compensate the
existence of local deficits of the origin at the destination.
Mobility can therefore only increase if local deficits
increase, which means poor urban planning, poor
logistics, poor management. All these deficits have to be
compensated by physical mobility. But the number of
purposes in society have not changed during increased
motorization. Mobility has nothing to do with car
ownership since it is purpose-related. Each trip with the
car replaces a trip of another mode as shown in Figure-4.

No. of trip per person per day

Increasing car mobility means decreasing mobility for

pedestrians, cyclists or public transport. There is no
growth of mobility in the transport system. The number
of trips remains constant.
Constant number of trip per person per day
Trip by CAR

Pedestrians,
cyclists, and PT

Motorization
Figure 4 Reality of Motorization and Mobility

For an example, In the early seventies, Austrian city

brought a new transport plan to convert its motorway to
pedestrian areas and then Vienna is one of the most
livable cities today. Though motorization in developed
countries was broken by changing the physical structures
during 1990s, developing countries still fails to learn the
lesson.
2.2 Saving Time by Increasing Speed
All investments in transport infrastructure are based on
calculations, which assume less travel time by increasing
speed according to physics, as mentioned in Equation-1.
(The signs of +ve and -ve is just shown purposefully to
represent its trend only.)
(-TT) [L] / (+) ............................. Eq-1

The above assumption is purely based on the myth of trip

length is constant. In macro picture of urban transport,
motorization do increases travel speed but unfortunately
do not reduces travel time instead people trend to travel
longer. Therefore, motorization does not reduces travel
time but increases their choice through longer travel
length.
2.3 Freedom of Modal Choice
Passengers can be split based on their choices into (1)
Captive riders who does not own a vehicle and has no
choice other than public transport and (2) Choice riders
who own a vehicle and can choose their mode. Since
humans have invented vehicle (new transport mode) they
are also able to control and master them, and park them at
house door. Figure-5 shows the acceptance of pedestrians
towards walking from car-oriented cities in Europe.

Figure 5 Acceptance function for pedestrians4

Peperna. O., 1982, The catchment areas of public transport stops

in the middle Straenbahnund Bus routes, the Technical University
of Vienna.

Thus the assumption of "freedom of modal choice" is not

accepted by drivers and complained "When we dont use
public transport we are punished by congestion/road
pricing". Proper land use control and land value
theory/policy are not in place and therefore parking
location and people's acceptable walking distance are not
matched.
Equity between cars and public transport would be
necessary everywhere. This means the walking distance
to a parking place has to be at least as long as the walking
distance to the public transport stop 5 . Cars have to be
stored in garages, situated as far away as public transport
stops (PTS) as given in Figure-6. If PTS and parking
could not be located closer, then place them separately so
that the distance to both could be still more or less same.

Figure 6 Equal distance to park and public transport

5

Knoflacher H., 1989, Transport concept in Eisenstadt-performed

leads on behalf of the state capital Eisenstadt.

3. Congestion
Growing population both from low income and high
income groups and their mobilization needs via formal
and informal mode of transport in urban cities along with
inadequate infrastructure, poor traffic control, poor land
use control, indiscipline drivers and road users create
heavy congestion in urban areas, costing more and more
to the society in terms of hours lost in traffic, longer
commuting times, etc., as shown in Figure-7. The
informal sector, cars and motorcycles are all contributing
to this congestion6.
Urban population
-Volume
Road Capacity
Traffic Mix Informal modes
Indiscipline Road
Users
Deficient
Use

Land

Indiscipline Road
Users

Air pollution

C
O
N
G
E
S
T
I
O
N

Noise
Time/Energy
lost
Urban sprawl
Traffic
Accidents
Mental stress

Figure 7 Cause and Effect of Congestion

UITP, 2003, Better urban mobility in developing countries

3.1 Traditional Approach to Congestion Relieve

Congestion is judged by traffic volume to roadway
capacity ratio (v/c). Congestion will be observed when
traffic volume approaches the roadway capacity (v/c 1).
If traffic volume (flow) exceeds the capacity of a road,
traditional transport engineers tend to add additional
lanes to reduce density and enhance the speed. This is the
effect of traditional transport education. If density is
decreased, the car transport sector becomes more
attractive, more people use the car, the speed is enhanced
not only locally; this produces more car traffic and finally
the same congestion appears, but only on a higher level7
as depicted in Figure-8.
80,000
How system really works

26,000

Before:
22,000

Immediately after:
7,000 - Forecasted by
Traditional models
1977

1978

1988

Figure 8 Immediate Effect and Systemic Effect

Year
5

This is the inevitable outcome of traditional transport

treatment methods. This has been studied on an urban
7

Knoflacher. H., Sadhana Vol. 32, Part 4, August 2007, pp.293

307.

motorway in Vienna5 where traditional transport planning

had forecasted a reduction in traffic flow when the
motorway was opened. Ten years later, the urban roads
had more traffic than before and there was about four
times more car traffic on the motorway. This was because
the motorway produced its own urban structure
consisting of urban sprawl and economic activities along
the motorways.
Another example, in the 1970s, it was considered a
symbol of progress when the Cheonggye River in Seoul,
Korea, was covered by a road and elevated freeway were
built above it. But by the year 2000, the Cheonggye area
was considered the most congested and noisy part of
Seoul, badly in need of revitalization, and people agreed
that nothing could be done to improve the area as long as
the freeway remained. One of the key campaign promises
by the Mayor who got elected in 2001 was to remove this
freeway and restore the Cheonggye river8.

Figure 9 Conversion of expressway back to river in Seoul8

Kumarage. A.S., 2012, Sri Lanka transport sector policy note,

World Bank

These are the reasons why Rahmah9 worried saying "Like

most metropolitan cities in developing country, the
Government has overemphasized on road projects than
the projects that support public transport and pedestrian
access" about the government of Jakarta. It's high time
for us also to think.
3.2 Differently approach to Congestion Relive
The unit of volume mentioned above in volume to
roadway capacity ratios (v/c) is vehicle/hr/lane which
takes account of vehicle. Whereas a simple definition of
transport is defined as "moving people or goods from one
point to another" which does not care about vehicle in
which it transported. Therefore, fundamentally, the
traditional approach has lost focus in terms of volume
from "people movement" to "vehicular movement" as
later one easily countable.
The car (vehicle) is the innovation of our technical
civilization, but has adverse social effects. Road is a
public space and, made and maintained by taxpayers
money. Concerning the basic rights of humans in public
space, if pedestrians were to behave in the same manner
as car drivers and use the same amount of space as shown
in figure-10, he/she would be called crazy by our society.
The misuse of public space especially in urban areas is
the so-called congestion problem5. The same is true with
the parking problem. It seems totally crazy to leave four
empty slots (four people) in a precious public space to
9

Rahmah. A, 2004, "Sustainable Urban Transport in Asia and

Europe", International Symposium, Muenster, Germany.

block all other activities, and act as a barrier to

pedestrians, cyclists, trees, etc5.

Figure 10 A pedestrian using a "walking tool"5

Every driver needs to be consciously reconsider to use the

public space efficiently. Therefore vehicle occupancy (no
of people carried) must be focused than the no of vehicle
moved. In this regards, there are several initiatives like;
High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane, Diamond lane, Car
free lane, ride sharing, van/car pool and obviously all
modes of public transport.
4. Focused Area: Colombo Metropolitan Region
4.1 Demand for Passenger Mobility
Demand estimation in 2011 for modal shares of the
country reported in Table18. The comparison of Veh.km
and Pax.km between busses and private vehicle clearly
shows the efficient of public transport.
Table 1 Transport Activity and Modal shares9
km
Mode
Vehicle km (mn.)
% Passenger
(mn.)
Buses
1,379
5
55,177
Railways
9
0
5,365
Private Vehicles
16,605
60
25,759
Para-Transit
4,841
18
11,348
Goods Vehicles
4,819
17
2,585
Water Transport
3
0
Total
27,657
100
100,236

%
55
5
26
11
3
0
100

4.2 Motor Vehicles and ownership rates

Number of motor vehicles in western province in 2010
and vehicle ownership rate (VOR) in the country are
reported in Table29. As motor cycles and three wheelers
which are imported at very comparatively low duty rates
have become the actual competition to public transport9.
Among four wheel vehicle category, private vehicles
represent higher portion and posses a VOR as 14 per
1000 persons noticeably.
Table 2 Motor vehicles and ownership rate9
Vehicle Category
Buses
Dual Purpose
Private Vehicle
Land Vehicle
Good Transport Veh.
Motor bike
Three wheeler
Others

Western
Province
19,006
105,831
200,986
88,570
15,404
464,435
179,124
1,743
1,075,099

%
2
10
19
8
1
43
17
0
100

VOR/
1000Persons
2
9
14
10
4
66
23
0

4.3 Demand forecasting

Traffic demand forecasted and presented in Figure-11
shows that bus transport share of passenger km would
reduce from 55 percent to 20 percent by 2031 and that
private travel share would increase from 26 percent to 57
percent. Bus transport is seen to lose significance by
dropping to 45 mn passenger kms by 2031, even though
it will increase from the current 56 mn passenger km to
61 mn passenger kms by 20219.

Figure 11 Modal Share Projections (2011-2031)9

5. Public Transport Alternatives

It is widely agreed that provision of extensive and wellorganized public transportation is fundamental to
resolving urban mobility challenges 10 . Mass transit
allows large numbers of people to be moved along a
single axis. This is essential for larger cities where the
number of people to be transported is highly
concentrated, and the travel distances may be relatively
long. Mass transit has traditionally been provided by railbased modes, usually metro, commuter rail, light rail,
mono-rail, etc. More recently, bus has also been used to
provide mass transit in a wide range of countries, and is
now usually referred to as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).
While mass transit is the most effective means of moving
large numbers of people rapidly across an urban area, it
faces a number of challenges which are relevant
everywhere, and can be highly significant in developing
countries;
10

Finn. B.M., 2010, Proceedings of ITRN, University College

Dublin, Ireland.

Mass transit systems can be expensive. Rail-based

systems such as underground metro can cost in excess
$100 million per kilometer (Table-5).
The lead time to develop systems can be long. Metro
projects often take a decade or more from
commencing design to being operational.
The combination of raising the finance and the lead
time to system opening often means that the transport
demand grows faster than new capacity can be added.
Financing mechanisms for the more expensive transit
systems can result in public authorities facing longterm debt servicing.
The economic case for rail-based transit is often
marginal due to the high investment requirements,
and is dependent on the value attributed to anticipated
economic development arising from the improved
infrastructure.
Disruption during a long construction period can
cause sustained and serious mobility problems on a
corridor which was already under pressure, and can
cause closure of businesses.
Many transit systems require a large number of the
passengers to travel to/from the stations, with an
expensive network of feeder services and
inconvenience and/or cost of interchange.
Rail-based transit systems displace the existing bus
operators. In many countries, these are extensive
private companies whose business may be severely
curtailed with no means of participation in the new
transit system.

6. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

6.1 Why BRT
While rail based public transports are superior in carrying
capacity, speed and reliability, they suffers from ROW
flexibility thus less accessibility to passengers. Whereas
tyre-based public transport (buses) has highest freedom
of route flexibility but suffers from capacity.
The developing countries were on search of new
alternative public transport which would combine
positive attributes of both rail based mode (high
capacity) and bus based mode (route flexibility) while
affordable. Eventually, with the success of LatinAmerican bus based transport system, a world stunning
term "Bus Rapid Transit" is coined now. It is not a bus
but an integrated system.
BRT has emerged as a solution that meets most or all of
those challenges mentioned above. In most cases (but not
all), bus-based transit can meet the transportation
capacity requirements when given dedicated running
ways11. Investment costs for BRT are significantly lower
and are affordable to city authorities many BRT
systems have been implemented for less than the cost of
one kilometer of metro. The economic case is usually far
superior, and many systems generate financial surpluses
which can either contribute to debt servicing or be used
for system expansion or upgrade. Lead times to
implementation are significantly shorter than for railbased systems, allowing cities to quickly make significant
11

ITDP, 2007, "Bus Rapid Transit Planning Guide".

additions to passenger carrying capacity10.

Cities have also appreciated that the organizational
structure can accommodate existing operators, either by
franchising/contracting routes to bus operators where
they already have the capability, or acting as an agent of
transformation for low-grade big-bus operators (e.g.
Bogota) or for paratransit operators to move to big-bus
operations (e.g. Lagos). The paratransit sector can also be
engaged to provide feeder services and integrated with
the BRT (e.g. Cape Town). The private operators often
supply or take financial responsibility for the rolling
stock, which reduces the investment requirements of city
or national government and provides the operators with a
greater stake in the system and its success10. The global
overview of BRT systems is shown in Table-3.
Table 3 Global overview of BRT systems10
Region
Major Cities with BRT
South
Bogota, Cali, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Quito, Recife,
America
Santiago, Sao Paulo
North
Cleveland, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Pittsburgh,
America
Vancouver
Asia
Amman*, Cebu*, Istanbul, Jakarta, Manila*,
Nagoya, Seoul, Taipei
China
Beijing, Chengzhou, Dalian, Kunming, Guangzhou,
Hangzhou, Jinan,
India
Ahmedabad, Delhi, Indore, Pune
Australia
Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney
Africa
Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria (Tswane),
Lagos, Accra*

6.2 Evidence of BRT

New perspectives have emerged, many of which have
shown that previous assumptions about bus transit were

incorrect, which in turn misinformed transit alternatives

appraisal10.
For example, it was widely held that metro and trams
stimulate property and economic development, and lead
to an uplift in property values, but that bus did not.
Appraisals took this perception into account. However,
property development valued at $4.3 billion has taken
place along the Cleveland BRT alignment while the
property sector has generally been depressed elsewhere in
the city; development to the value of $800 million has
take place along the Pittsburgh BRT alignment. Research
in Seoul has revealed uplift in property prices and rental
values in the vicinity of BRT stations12.
It was also widely held that metro, LRT and tram attract
car users, whereas bus systems are far less successful in
doing so. In fact, while BRT achieves major increases in
ridership, a large part of this ridership increase is in trips
new to transit, even in North American and Australian
cities with high car ownership as shown in Table-4.
Table 4 Ridership gains by BRT10
City
% Ridership Gain in
Corridor
Los Angeles
+40%
Miami
+85%
Brisbane
+60%
Vancouver
+30%
Boston
+100%
Mexico City
Bogota

12

% of ridership new
transit trips
>30%
>50%
>45%
>25%
>30%
>50%
>10%

Cervero, Robert and Kang, C.D., 2009, Bus Rapid Transit

impacts on land uses and land values in Seoul, UC Berkley.

6.3 Investment Cost and Capacity of BRT systems

The investment cost per kilometer in million dollars and
their actual capacity (ridership; not maximum) in
passengers per hour per direction are shown in Table-5.
In general, bus-based systems can be matched or
exceeded the capacity of tram and of LRT, and the topend BRT systems (e.g. Bogota) can match the ridership of
many metro systems10.
Table 5 Investment cost and capacity of BRT systems13
Line
Capital Cost
Actual capacity
/Km ($M)
(pax /hour / direction)
Hong Kong Metro
$220
81,000
Bangkok Skytrain
$74
25,000 50,000
Caracas Metro
$90
21,600-32,000
Mexico City Metro
$41
19,500 - 39,300
Kuala Lumpur LRT
$50
10,000 30,000
Bogota TransMilenio
$5
35,000 - 45,000
Sao Paulo Busways
$2
27,000 -35,000
Porto Alegre Busway
$2
28,000
Curitiba Busway
$2
15,000
Quito Electric Trolley BRT $5
9,000-15,000
TransJakarta
$1
8,000

In general, BRT can provide the same transportation

capacity for between a third and a tenth of the investment
cost of rail alternatives. This does not necessarily mean
that BRT is automatically the investment option with
greatest economic return, since many other factors may
also be relevant. However, it does mean that bus transit
options which can achieve the transportation performance
requirements should be taken as the Base Case in transit
13

ITDP, 2003, Sustainable Transport, Fall 2003.

investment appraisals, and that significantly more

expensive technologies should only be selected where
they can demonstrate a superior economic return10.
6.4 Characteristics of BRT
There is a wide variety of BRT systems, but they can be
all be described in terms of the following key elements:

6.5

Dedicated running way, either total segregation or

with priority at intersection and other network
interface points.
High quality interchanges, terminals, stations,
stopping places, etc.
Enhanced network and service plan, with reliable, fast,
higher frequency services, that typically form part of a
comprehensive, integrated transit network.
High quality vehicles, sometimes of high capacity and
unique to the BRT system.
Advanced operational and customer-facing systems including ITS, fare collection and passenger
information and back-office, planning and revenue
apportionment or contract payments systems.
Elements of BRT

6.5.1 Running way

Some kind of priority measures is necessary to get travel
time benefit compared to mix traffic. Therefore it
necessary to consider dedicated bus lane partially or fully
which could be placed at median or curb with flow or on
counter flow.

(a) Median bus lanes

(b) Curb bus lane - Type 1

(c) Curb bus lane - Type 2

Figure 12 ROW configuration for BRT

6.5.2 Stations
BRT Stations vary widely in size, quality and design.
Following factors tend to determine the design:
Volume of passengers to be handled
Extent of interchange taking place
Whether the BRT is in the style of LRT or of bus
system
Whether the stations are in the median or at the edge
of the road
Fare collection and revenue protection requirements
A sample station design in Figure-13 shows a median bus
lane BRT station. The design is in such a way that
construction cost and maintenance cost could be
negotiated with the neighborhood business entities so that
the financial burden of the government is minimal.

Figure 13 Station design supported by neighborhood businesses

6.5.3 Vehicles
The vehicles utilized in BRT also vary widely. The main
factors in choice are the volume of passengers to be
transported, the target frequency and operational concept,
the target system image, available budget, and who is
financing the vehicles10. The main categories of vehicle
are:
Bi-articulated vehicles, where very high capacity is
sought (e.g. Curitiba; Figure-14)
Articulated vehicles for high capacity (e.g. Bogota,
Beijing, Cleveland, Nantes)
Standard urban buses, where multiple routes use the
BRT, and/or where the operators finance the vehicles
(e.g. Brisbane, Lagos, Seoul)

Figure 14 Bi-Articulated BRT vehicle

An additional feature sought on vehicles is "level floor"

boarding and alighting which minimizes the time of
passenger movement at station by any one of the

following means:
Buses with doors located high up on the bus in order
to allow level boarding on raised platforms, in the
style of metro or LRT (e.g. Bogota, Pereira)
Buses with doors on both sides to allow both median
and lateral running (e.g. Beijing, Cleveland)
Buses with guidance wheels either to allow precision
docking (e.g. Cleveland), or for operation in guided
lanes (e.g. Adelaide, Leeds)
Kneeling buses- Busses kneel for passenger boarding
and alighting and raise back on running.

(a) High Floor Buses

(b) Low floor buses
Figure 15 Level floor boarding and alighting

6.5.4 Service Plans

The service plan is the route or network concept for the
bus services operating on the BRT. Again, these vary
widely but can be clustered in the following categories10:
Trunk and feeder or Closed systems in the style of
metro or tram where a single route operates end-toend and no other route operates on the running way
(e.g. Beijing, Cleveland, Lagos, Nantes)
Limited set of routes with dedicated special vehicles
which operate only on the BRT and special tributaries
(e.g. Bogota)

(Semi)-Open system where multiple authorised routes

use the BRT running way, either along its entire
length or joining/leaving where best suited (e.g.
Adelaide, Amsterdam, Brisbane, Paris TVM,
Pittsburgh, Santiago)
Open system where all urban buses may use the BRT
facility (e.g. Seoul)
Comprehensive networks with BRT routes, orbital
routes, local routes and feeders (e.g. Curitiba)

Figure 16 Open vs Trunk & Feeder system of BRT operation

6.5.5 Support Systems and ITS

Most BRT systems have invested in advanced customerfacing services, operations management systems, and
back-office management and planning systems10. Such
systems include:
Vehicle location technology, headway control,
operations management, and other ITS systems
Interface with traffic control systems for priority at
junctions

Fare collection systems, smart cards, off-vehicle

ticketing vending and back-office revenue
apportionment systems
Trip planners, travel information and real time
passenger information
CCTV and image processing system for security and
station management
Fleet and asset management systems, maintenance
and inventory management
Signal priority - gives priority via signals at
intersection by detecting BRT vehicles.

(a)Passenger info at station

(b)Passenger info in-veh
Figure 17 Passenger information system

6.6 Branding and Marketing of BRT

Branding and marketing is a fundamental aspect of the
more successful BRT system, although it must be
acknowledged that many BRT systems do not pay
sufficient attention to this aspect10. A number of common
strategies are:
Establishing a system name and strong public
presence (e.g. Trasmilenio in Bogota. Hopefully, we
may use "TransColombo").
Designing strong brand identity and visual presence.

Develop unique elements not used anywhere else in

the transit system (e.g. Amsterdam)
Develop and maintain high quality throughout the
system - Unique stations, lane markings (pavement
color), vehicle (color code based of services).
Engaging a Political Champion to profile the BRT
and gain public approval (e.g. Bogota, Curitiba)

Vehicle

(b) Red bus - Metro Rapid

(c) Red Lane - Paris

(d) Blue Lane -Auckland

Station

Running Way

(a) Yellow bus - Local

(e) Tube Station-Curitiba

(f) Bogotas TransMilenio
Figure 18 Uniqueness in design of BRT elements

A strong visual design, logo and strong color are

universally accepted marketing strategy to win the bad
image of "BUS" among users in developing countries.

6.7 BRT definitions and options

There are several definitions of BRT. For example, Diaz
and Schneck 14 defined BRT as distinct from
conventional bus transit in a way it combines technology,
the operational plan and the customer interface to create
higher quality of service. Whereas TRB15 defined it as
rubber-tired light rail transit (LRT) but with greater
operating flexibility and potentially lower capital and
operating costs. Definitions by many researchers and
practitioners vary broadly and according to its purpose.
Therefore, the authors categorize BRT into three options
based on developing countries capability of stage
implementation and users understanding 16 , as given in
Table-6.
Table 6 BRT categorization according to its elements16
Option 1
Option 2
Option 3
Some means of
Additional priority
Sophisticated
separation from mixed
measures
ITS
traffic
At at-grade
Signal
All along or partially
intersection
priority
Bus lane, by road
Passenger
Vehicle
marking/ bit raised
information at
tracking
median
station and
Real time
Some means of quick
onboard
passenger
boarding & alighting
Modal
information
Pre collection of fare
coordination
Enables pre New low-floor bus
(Operation &
planned trips
Unique appearance of
payment)
(web based)
bus, stops, lanes
Feeder system, Park
& Ride
14

Diaz, R., B., Schneck, D., C. (2000) An overview of bus rapid

transit technologies in the Americas, Transportation Research Board
15
TRB. (2003) Bus Rapid Transit, Volume 2: Implementation
guidelines, TCRP 90, Washington, D.C.
16
Sivakumar.T., 2007, A systematic approach for questionnaire design
on new transit system implementation in developing countries,
EASTS.

6.8 Feasible corridors for BRT

A reason study9 identified based on passenger demand
that there are eight transport corridors in CMR which
have more than 80,000 passengers per day. As shown in
Table-7, two of these, the Kandy Road and the Galle
Road have flows exceeding half a million passengers per
day per in both directions.
Table 7 Number of passenger per day per direction in Colombo
Private
Vehicle
Bus
Rail
No.
Corridor
passenger Passenger Passenger
1 Parliament Rd/Kotta Rd
60,332
33,757
2 Kandy Rd
48,064
89,609
46,952
3 Galle Rd
35,512
113,468
33,403
4 Negombo Rd
39,570
60,386
20,122
5 High Level Rd
21,184
72,119
4,912
6 Horana Rd
24,234
31,080
7 Dematagoda-Wellampitiya
9,431
18,831
8 Orugodawatta-Wellampitiya
9,832
19,122
Total 248,158
438,372 105,389
(%)
(31%)
(55%)
(13%)

Table-7 also shows that the bus share is greater than 50%
in 8 out of the 10 corridors. However it is considerably
lower in two corridors where bus services have not
developed adequately. For example the lowest bus modal
share of 35% is on the Parliament Road/Cotta Road
corridor where private vehicle share actually exceeds bus
shares even without a railway operation. The Negombo
road also has a lower bus passenger share of 42%.
Overall the 8 corridors in CMR carry 438,372 bus
passengers daily constituting 55% of all passengers to the
city.

The primary intervention recommended9 is to introduce

BRT on priority basis in order to arrest the continuing
loss of bus ridership to private vehicles as follows;
Colombo
(i) Kandy road;
(ii) Galle road;
(iii) Parliament road;
(iv) Negombo road and
(v) Horana road.
It is emphasized to go for BRT first even if forecasted
passenger movement counts warranted for Mass Rapid
Transit (MRT) since Colombo has not yet experience any
line-haul rapid transit.
7. Conclusion
As shown in Figure-7 of 'Cause and Effect of congestion',
congestion is a multi-factoral phenomena which needs to
consider as many factors as possible to make any
decisions and make the solution sustainable. Therefore,
if we were to implement BRT firstly we must think
whether we have planned and worked out enough to get
natural support from the following three dimensions of
management (Land use ~ Demand ~ Supply) as shown in
Figure-19.
The following are some of the keys to a successful BRT
system;
Land use integration/ land use controls;
System integration - Feeder system plus
multimodal connectivity;

Institutional Arrangements and political support;

Users (customers) acceptance;

while the system essentially attributed the followings;

Speed;
Reliability;
Identity and image;
Better permanence.

Figure 19 Conceptual planning concept

Transit oriented development is inevitable for sustainable

relieve from congestion problem in urban roads. Among
the available public transport alternatives, Bus Rapid
Transit (BRT) is a viable solution to relieve congested
road space in Colombo. Furthermore, Bus Rapid Transit
MUST be the take-off system for Colombo before steps
into any higher order transits.

Acknowledgement:
The author gratefully acknowledges Knoflacher. H.,
Finn. B.M., and Kumarage. A.S., as this article is
compiled from their articles.

John would have been glad to see that his utmost

wish, the "public transport priority" be now realized
in the form of BRT possibly named as
"TransColombo"