Traffic snarls costly to business

Growing traffic congestion in Colombo due to security considerations has adversely affected the economy, business and adds to the annual 30 billion-rupee cost of congestion, business and traffic planning specialists say.

Sales, particularly during the festive season, has suffered due to numerous no parking areas in the city – without proper alternative parking facilities provided – while tourists arriving at the airport prefer to drive straight to their outstation destination than spend time in Colombo.

“They don’t want to go round and round to go to a particular place in the city,” a veteran tourism industry official told The Sunday Times FT. He said the industry’s efforts to promote the country as a peaceful destination has proved futile as tourists feel insecure and uncertain when they see Colombo city barricaded with security checks.

Traffic specialists on the other hand say they were not consulted on the changes. Prof. Amal Kumarage, Professor in Civil Engineering at the University of Moratuwa and one of Sri Lanka’s foremost traffic planning specialists, told The Sunday Times FT that with the people’s reluctance to come into the city, businesses will follow the people to places outside the city. “Businesses, in the short term, will relocate to places like Nugegoda and Kiribathgoda, developing those economies.”

He said since October the flow of vehicles into the city, according to the university’s research, had reduced by 20-25 percent due to the congestion and restrictions. “We are looking at the impact after further restrictions (following the failed attack on Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa),” he said adding that the reduction in vehicles may reduce the economic cost of congestion.

Prof. Kumarage said that these traffic snarls annually result in the cost of congestion estimated at Rs 30 billion which calculates the value of time, additional fuel used, wear and tear of vehicles and loss of productivity of manpower and machinery. In 1995 the economic cost of congestion was Rs 10 billion, according to studies by Prof. Kumarage’s team. Business down many of Colombo’s popular shopping areas like Duplication Road have suffered from the congestion and limited parking facilities.

Fouzul Hameed, Managing Director of Hameedia, a well known business enterprise in Colombo, was very critical of the parking restrictions saying that due to these restrictions his business has suffered heavy losses. “My customers are not people who come by bus, nor are they people who can waste time looking for parking spots. I have suffered a loss of more than 50%.” He said the organization has about 15 showrooms all of which have been taken on rent. “We employ about 700 employees, so their wages have to be paid. We have to pay massive rents. These are all problems that we have,” he said, adding that with customers not coming into the shops, staff have lost commissions and incentives and their products also get outdated.

Stone and String, another popular establishment, on Duplication Road, suffered a reduction of about 30% in income as customers are not coming into their showroom, a spokesman said.

A spokesperson for the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) praised the new uni-flow system but was critical about the parking restrictions and its impact on the capital’s economy. “The lack of parking facilities in the city means that people do not come into the city for their shopping, which in effect means that money is not spent.” This results in a downturn in the economy, especially in the festive season.

“The trading community is at a loss,” he said and noted that some restaurants in the city have reported a loss of turnover of 40%-50% as the number of customers they receive has dropped due to parking constraints.

Describing these measures as ad hoc policies, the spokesperson acknowledged the need to address security concerns but stressed on the importance of the government finding solutions to this problem. “The government should provide public parking spaces or find other alternatives and solve this problem” he said.

Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) Mahen Dayananda said, “The parking restrictions have both a positive and negative effect. It is positive in that vehicles not being allowed to park on roadsides have given way to a smooth flow of traffic but it has a negative effect on shops and other businesses.”

While there was almost unanimous criticism about the traffic restriction in place, the uni-flow system of traffic led to mixed reactions.

“The principle on which this system is built on will worsen the problem,” said Prof Kumarage. According to him the one way system of traffic is successful when the time taken to travel from point A to point B is reduced even though the distance increases. This has not been achieved by the system in place in the city he said. “In this system, the time has also increased. Although people feel that they are travelling faster, the majority of trips will take a longer time with only a few trips being completed faster.” This in effect will result in people consuming more fuel as well, he noted. He also noted that implementing such a system without simultaneously improving the public transport system will only make the traffic problem in the city worse in the long run as more and more people will be tempted to opt for private transport.

Answering questions as to whether this could be considered a convenience to the public, he said it is beneficial to a few. The worst affected by this uni-flow system are the bus commuters who make up 68% of travellers. He also pointed out that junctions, where bottlenecks are created, need to be improved. Professor Kumarage noted that while some bottlenecks remain the same, others have been moved to different locations. “All that has been done is to transfer the bottleneck to a different place,” he said.

The FCCISL spokesperson however commended the uni-flow system. Comparing Colombo to cities like Bangalore, he pointed out that Colombo is the only city where there are no one-way streets. When asked about the inconvenience it causes to people, especially to those who travel by bus, he said; “We have to give them time to adjust. Eventually they will get used to it.”

The CCC Chairman also voiced similar thoughts, hailing the new uni-flow system. “It has a very positive effect as it has streamlined the traffic flow, thereby cutting down on travel time and also saving fuel as there are less traffic jams” he said.However Prof Kumarage said that to his knowledge neither the University nor institutions such as the Road Development Authority, the Colombo Municipal Council, and the National Transport Commission were consulted before the implementation of the system. “Our university has traffic models. The system could have been simulated on the computer to see if it is viable and the public could have been spared the hassle,” he said. “We are currently working out an alternate strategy,” he said, noting that people have been complaining even to them about the problems they face.

The parking restrictions due to security concerns have impacted adversely on the entertainment industry. Avoid any inconvenience, take a cab” was how a recent advertisement for a play at the Lionel Wendt ended. City hotels are grappling with concern about sudden traffic stoppages to allow VVIP motorcades, as they prepare for mega Christmas and New Year events. As a solution due to restricted parking in its own compound owing to security, one hotel has organized a shuttle bus from a location near the Regal Cinema where patrons can park their vehicles and take the bus.