The First Modern Commuter Bus
Colombo badly needs middle class public transit. This is a start. This is a Micro bus (which is mad nice) plying from Kadawatha (Kiribathgoda, horror) to Kollupitiya. It’s a comfortable A/C bus, it has bookings, and it says it runs on time. This seems fairly ordinary stuff, but it isn’t. I’ve talked about the need for new buses and the resistance from some entrenched interests before. This is an example of something actually happening.
As in, you can call Malik Mohammed on 0770068693 or email him at managercitybus@microholdings.lk and book a seat. If you commute that way. I’ve ridden in one of these modern buses once and it’s amazing. They have TV even and you’re not inhaling exhaust and sweat. And it doesn’t sound like a tractor. And it has regular stops. Oh God, the joy. Micro is a private company, so it goes to show this doesn’t have to be government led. Whatever. As long as sensible public transit happens.
Posted on Wednesday, September 19th, 2012 in Colombo, transport.
Mohsin Hamid, author of How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia, has a nice 
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Sounds great. I sure hope the other private bus peeps don’t go of the deep end now and start burning tyres on the road or something.
Oh the City needs one from Mount Lavinia to Galle Face!!!
Do you have to book or can you hop on and off too Indi?
I know this is unrelated… but it sort of ties in with “the changing times”
Who would have thought that Singapore would be advised to see what Sri Lanka is doing with regards to cleanliness??
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“Not littering a way of life in Sri Lanka
From Tan Kok Tim Updated 11:14 PM Sep 19, 2012
Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan asked if volunteers should be given the power to book litterbugs, as reported in “Singapore: Clean city or cleaned city?” (Sept 15, online).
Perhaps the solution to our litter problem could be found in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which I visited recently.
Its streets were free of litter, even cigarette butts, with no road sweepers or dump trucks in sight nor dustbins along the streets, either. This included the area around the busy Central Railway Station. Not littering seems to be a way of life in Colombo.
The minister and his National Environment Agency officials could perhaps make a visit to find out more. Singapore relies on anti-littering laws, and yet we cannot compare with Sri Lanka.
Perhaps our education officials could also visit Colombo to learn how its schools nurture children to grow up with a litter-free attitude.
Sri Lanka’s civic consciousness in this regard seems superior to ours.”
http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120919-0000163/Not-littering-a-way-of-life-in-Sri-Lanka
What are you, and that writer, smoking? Clean? Clearly someone who has never walked the streets of Colombo- where it counts, anyway.
You must be a newbie here, because clearly you have no idea about my opinion of Colombo.
Singapore is full of economic migrants from neighboring countries. It is hard to control the littering habits of such a diverse society consisting of various nationalities of varying educational backgrounds. The only reason Singapore is clean is because the government spends millions of dollars on cleaning up the streets and sidewalks on a daily basis, employing a large number of cleaning crew and large scale cleaning machinery and vehicles.
I am not sure if Colombo is cleaner than Singapore, but I do know that its cleaner than it used to be a few years ago. I dont think it has anything to do with the school education system ( we all know what that has become) but I think its mainly the man power behind it. You might have not see but there are a lot of cleaners on the roads, mainly during the early hrs. Dump trucks, no so much but we do have the “dump carts”, which are pushed from location to location by the cleaners.
Anyway overall Colombo is cleaner than before at least until it rains :)