Let’s accept it. Most of us grew
up hearing the countless complains about public transport. And as for today,
the situation has not made much of a difference. The hassle is still the same
as if only the people and the time have evolved; Reoccurrence.
The common man often gets
sandwiched in the rivalry between private and SLTB and ends us dealing with an
unorganized schedule as a result of this. In instances where a SLTB bus is
travelling on the road, private busses shift to their reckless-driving-mode
taking SLTB as competition and lose the meaning of what they are meant to be
doing – ensuring a safe and a fast way of travelling to all their passengers.
As a result of this, the whole social chain becomes a mess. This rivalry of
driving fast, is directly related to the increasing number of deaths caused by
road accidents around the country. Today fatal accidents are a frequent
headline in the news and people have lost the value of a human life over reckless
driving.
Towards the latter part of the
80’s decade with the importing of Trishaws from India, the Sri Lankan transport
segment took on a whole new path while opening many entrepreneur opportunities
to the unemployed youth in the country. A couple of years down the line,
driving a trishaw became the fast-track to earning a decent living for the
unemployed and with the drastic mannerisms of the public transport systems, trishaws
were able to mark their golden era from the late 80’s to the late 90’s. People
loved the small compact vehicle and most of all, it was affordable for the
common man.
In the present, just as all good
things, the respectable trishaw service era too had to end. With the
fluctuating fuel prices and all subordinate factors, Trishaw drivers became
more money oriented and manner-less. As a solid solution for this issue on par
with the rapid development in Sri
Lanka, rent a car service providers like Kings Rent a Car Colombo emerged to deliver a more reliable and a
customer-friendly service whereas the public transport remained the same up to
date.
But in the long run, “rent-a-car
services” would only be a temporary remedy to a persistent crisis. What we need
is an organized system where public and private transport sectors act more
responsibly, or the public transport should be strengthened to deliver a
service which can overcome the monopoly domination of the private transport
providers.
