Annual Report 2010 - Ministry of Finance and Planning

Ministry of Finance and Planning Sri Lanka > Annual Report 2010No of VehivlesChart: 1.32 > No of Registered Vehicles (2005 - 2009)4500000400000035000003000000250000020000001500000100000050000002005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010Source: Department of Motor TrafficIn line witheconomicgrowth, thenumber ofvehiclesentered in tothe country’svehicle fleet hasbeen increasingcontinuously...TransportIn order to meet the transport demandof a middle income country, thegovernment has recognized the needfor the development of transportinfrastructure facilities as a matterof priority and has recognized thatthe country’s transport policy mustensure reliability and safety of varioustransport modes available for people.In particular, people must havechoices when selecting their modes oftransport.In line with economic growth, thenumber of vehicles entered in tothe country’s vehicle fleet has beenincreasing continuously (Chart1.4.1.5.1). Total number of vehiclesregistered during 2010 has increasedsignificantly by around 10 percentcompared to that of 2009. Amongthe newly registered vehicles in 2010,around 2,500 were passenger buses,which is 0.7 percent of the total newlyregistered vehicles.Provision of transport infrastructuresuch as roads, bridges and parkingspaces for this increasing numberof vehicles is a major challenge.Investing in new highway systems,installation of new traffic signalingsystems, establishment of parkingand riding facilities are some of themeasures taken to address trafficmanagement issues.Passenger TransportationPassenger transport of the countryis undertaken by both public andprivate buses. Improving the qualityof passenger transport is a majorobjective of the government in thetransport sector.In 2010, bus transport accountedfor 61 percent of the country’s totalpassenger transport and indicateda decline by 1 percent compared to2009. In the mean time, the usageof private vehicles, three wheelersand hired vehicles for passengertransportation has grown byaround 1 percent during thesame period partly indicating theimproved income of the people.Of the total number of 31,000buses in the country, 85 percentare privately owned. The averagenumber of private buses operateddaily for the passenger transportwas 26,500 in 2010. Of this, around4,000 private buses were used forinter provincial passenger transportand another 18,000 private buseswere used for intra provincialtransport. The average number ofSLTB buses operated daily wasaround 4,500 in 2010. In additionto passenger transport, roads areused for transportation of goodsas well. Contribution of the roadtransport methods for freights was98 percent in 2010. This shows aslight decrease of freight transportusing roads in 2010 compared to2009.61