Park And Ride Project Re-launched

[Le Sabre]

Another try at this project.

Lets see if it goes well this time.

The re-launch of Cityliner premium bus service 'Park and Ride' in Colombo was held yesterday. Chairman, National Transport Commission (NTC), Prof. Amal S. Kumarage said Park and Ride in Colombo, will operate from September 1 from Moratuwa to Colombo.

It will operate 24 turns for the two way service daily at a reasonable price.

Cityliner has already allocated six buses for this project.

Prof Amal S. Kumarage

The Transport Ministry has proposed a three year program to reduce the number of private vehicles entering and operating within the city from 200,000 to 150,000 and thereby to reduce traffic congestion, consumption of fuel and environment pollution.

Prof. Amal S. Kumarage said this project has received a good response from the public as well as the media who appreciate this project. "However, the present service provider has not been able to attract adequate passengers due to a number of marketing and operational issues. It has become necessary for the NTC to re-launch this project to ensure that it keeps to its original objective of providing a high quality option for daily commuters who travel by car or motorcycle,"

"Even though there are many development projects that have been taken place across the country, unlike rural areas to widening of streets, new roads, flyovers have limited scope in a city such as Colombo which needs to preserve its historical and greenery," he said. "Hence, convincing private vehicle users who take up 70 percent of road space to use public transport becomes a major strategy to ensure that adequate mobility to city is maintained.

However, this is a new paradigm shift for public transport which for years has been considered only as the 'poor man's transport'" he said.

"The effects of congestion in Colombo and its suburbs such as increase of fuel costs, wear and tear of vehicles, travel time losses and social cost on environment can be valued at around Rs. 32 billion per year, "Prof. Kumarage said.

The corporate partners engaged with the project has provided many facilities for passengers such as electronic ticketing, Wi-Fi facilities, and especial discount rates at a leading fashion house for Cityliner passengers.

"We are hoping to expand the service in other cities in the country soon with reasonable packages," he said.

[SeanD]

That's all very nice, but I think once again poor marketing will kill this project. I haven't seen any sort of mass media advertising this service, which would be extremely beneficial to the city as a whole if properly implemented. Sad to see that even the academics in charge of these things overlooked such simple concepts or could not see the trees for the forest.

Hope it is a big success this time round.

[terrabytetango]

"However, the present service provider has not been able to attract adequate passengers due to a number of marketing and operational issues." = Epic fail in foresight and understanding the social dynamics of market segment at which this is aimed