let me add my 2 pence here. the countries you were refering to parak either had a solid efficient transportation system for decades, if not centuries. take london for example. getting from one corner to the other there's nothing more efficient than taking a tube train or 2. thats how those people were brought up. for them its the easiest and quickest method.
now take sri lanka. every kid is brought upto believe that public transportation is rubbish (cos it really is) and that they should work hard at school so they can afford their own car. so i guess thats how we are.
let me say just one more thing. your arguement is reasonable. but perhaps you should spend more time in the "real" sri lanka of sweaty bus rides, trains that don't arrive on time and sudden downpours. i think getting people into the bus (or the train) is not the priority here. its building up a better economy so we have more spending power (so we actually have an option between the car and the bus/train) but more importantly build up safe secure efficient clean public transport system that people would actually dont mind taking before forcing them to get out their cars to avoid congestion etc etc.
ideas travel. but we'll stick to our old ways, at least until we have a decent trasport system thanks very much.