Better Roads, Increased Traffic, More Pollution

10 August 2014 06:30 pm Views - 2910

A recent news item stated that a  new network  of elevated roads on  concrete columns is going to be constructed in and around Colombo to ease traffic congestion. This is on top of the enormous investments that the country has already made in the roads sector.   

As is well known,  the construction of new roads and the improvement of existing roads have been going on in this country over the past few decades, in particular over the past ten years. Yet, these developments have not been adequate to keep up with increasing vehicular traffic in Colombo, its suburbs and other urban centres. This is not surprising because the data from the RMV shows a steady increase in the registration of all sorts of motor vehicles during the same period. For instance, the number of vehicles registered at the RMV has increased from about two million in 2002 to more than five million in 2013. If we assume that the country’s per capita income will continue to increase, the above trend in the importation of motor vehicles will also persist. In other words, the number of vehicles can double again in the next ten years. So, further improvements in the road network are more than likely to increase the volume of traffic in the country, particularly in urban areas.

Motor vehicles are perhaps the biggest source of air pollution in most countries today. Industries also contribute to air pollution at varying levels depending on the nature andextent of industrialization. There is an increasing trend in air pollution in this country, particularly in the Colombo metropolitan region and other large urban centres like Kandy, Kurunagala and Galle. Unavoidably, we breathe in some of this polluted air daily, leading to short-term and long-term adverse health consequences. So, a further increase in the stock of motor vehicles can only make the situation worse. A scientific paper authored by three medical scientists entitled, ‘Air Pollution and Public Health in Developing Countries’ published in the Journal of the College of Community Physicians in Sri Lanka in 2012 based on empirical data clearly points to the connection between increasing air pollution and rising pollution-related ailments in urban areas in the country.

Accumulated evidence of the link between air pollution and ill-health has compelled policy makers in many other countries to take various measures to address the issue. These include; imposition of emission controls, conversion of vehicles from more polluting to less polluting fuel, pedestrianisation of certain parts of the city, penalties for high polluters, etc. These measures, when strictly enforced can reduce air pollution to a significant degree.

But, a country can also adopt  more radical structural measures that can have far reaching positive impacts, in reducing air pollution and related illnesses thereby improving the overall quality of life of the whole population, while at the same time reducing the direct and indirect costs of air pollution. These measures pertain to such areas as transport, land use, and overall development planning.

"Accumulated evidence of the link between air pollution and ill-health has compelled policy makers in many other countries to take various measures to address the issue"

It is significant that many countries that are well known for the production and export of motor cars such as Japan and Germany are also heavily dependent on railways for domestic passenger and goods transport. This is in addition to public buses, trams and light rail systems. In these countries, more and more people also use bicycles for short distance travel and easing traffic congestion on local roads.  As is well known, electric trains are the least polluting, as part of a mass transit system. So, most people in urban areas travel by train relieving the city streets of motor vehicles. This creates more space for pedestrians, cyclists and public buses. So, a transport policy that effectively reduces motor vehicles on urban and suburban roads brings a whole range of benefits, the most important of which is reduced air pollution.

In this country today, traffic control has become perhaps the most pervasive function of the police force. Though this is necessary today, a substantial reduction in traffic no doubt would reduce the need for deploying thousands of police officers countrywide costing a great deal of money to the tax payers. Moreover, an increasing volume of traffic has also led to increasing traffic accidents resulting in many deaths and injuries. Public buses and three-wheelers are the most common means of transport in almost all parts of the country. There are more than 800,000 three-wheelers in the country today, one for every 25 people.

So, unless a decisive policy decision is taken by the government to effect a shift from the present emphasis on road transport to rail and other more environmentally friendly modes of transport, the present stock of more than five million vehicles (including three wheelers and motor bikes) is likely to double in the next ten years. The result of such a development can only be calamitous in every sense of the term. So, it is necessary to take all possible measures to avert such a situation. The train services in the country today are mostly confined to long distance travel with inter-regional services linking several provincial towns with Colombo. Local train services are almost non-existent in urban areas. Electrified light rail networks can certainly fill this void. In other words, we have so far done precious little to tap the full potential of rail transport in this country.
The country’s development in recent years has been highly skewed. The Western Province has emerged as the wealthiest and the most densely populated region in the country. More than half of the country’s wealth as well as motor vehicles are concentrated in this province. This is unsustainable and unhealthy. What is necessary is a decentralized form of development that leads to a redistribution of wealth across the country. So, every effort should be made to develop the regions in terms of income opportunities and social infrastructure facilities. As is well known, there is not a single urban centre outside the western province that can rival Colombo in terms of employment opportunities, health and education facilities and consumption opportunities.

Only self-contained urban centres with attractive income opportunities, state of the art hospitals, top educational institutions and other social infrastructure facilities could counter-balance the overwhelming dominance of Colombo. We do not see any such centres emerging in any other part of the country today. This Colombo-centric development pattern should give way to a more dispersed form of development. Provincial and local councils should be empowered so that they are able to play a catalytic role in regional development, without being subservient and dependent on the Centre. Under such a development regime, transportation systems would also become more decentralized.