ACCESS PROBLEMS OF THE URBAN POOR IN SRI LANKA

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ACCESS PROBLEMS OF THE URBAN POOR IN SRI LANKA

• Amal S. Kumarage Ph.D.
• Professor, Transportation Engineering Division,
• University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.

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Present Day Accessibility Issues for the Urban
Poor

• This is two fold
• The poor are unable to escape poverty due to
  transport deficiencies that shut out their access
  to short term (jobs) and long-term (education)
  opportunities for them.
• Those just outside poverty are plunged into it
  due to risks faced in the course of travel by
  means that are affordable to them, notable those
  that lead to injury and death as pedestrians and
  cyclists due to road accidents.

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Case Study 1 Accessibility to Industrial Zone
in Avissawella

• Surrounding areas have 10-15 unemployment.
• The Industrial Zone was expected to create 20,000
  direct jobs plus 10,000 indirect jobs.
• Actual numbers have fallen short significantly
  (only around 25-40) achieved.
• Study in 1999 proposed several transport sector
  interventions to improve access of the employees
  to the industrial zone- but none undertaken to
  date.

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Accessibility to Industrial Zone
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Features of Transport Access

• Pedestrian and bicycle facilities non-existent.
• Bus transport affordable, but not available late
  evening? unable to work late shifts? boarding
  (costs 60 _at_ of basic wage) alternative give up
  job.
• Bus transport connections unreliable ?use of
  reserved van? costs around 5 times bus fare.

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Results in.

• Reduced catchment area for workers, only around
  10 km radius.
• Increased catchment along trunk roads (where
  employment options already exist)
• Reduced catchment in remote areas (where high
  unemployment exists)

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Catchment of Industrial Area
Remote Areas
Avissawella
Developed Areas
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Case Study 2 Safety in Access in Western
Province

• Some considerations of access for the poor
• The poor are characterized as being unable to own
  or use motorized vehicles
• They often choose to walk or cycle even if public
  transport is available and affordable.
• Therefore most cyclists and pedestrians in urban
  areas are from lower income deciles
• There are concerns that facilities for
  non-motorised users are not adequately considered
  in present road rehabilitation and improvement
  schemes.

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Distribution of Road Traffic Accidents by Type of
User (2001-Western Province, Sri Lanka)
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Comparison of Accidents Statistics of 5 roads
recently rehabilitated/improved and others
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Pedestrian Accident Victims by Income Decile
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What are the reasons for the high incidence of
accidents?

• 47 of pedestrian accidents while walking
  alongside road
• Only 8 of such sites had a sidewalk
• Only 3 of such sites had a guard rail
• Of 53 accidents occurring while crossing road
• Only 36 had a pedestrian crossing within 50 m
• Only 4 has a centre median or refuge.

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What happens to those pedestrians who meet with
accidents?

• Only 23 of pedestrian victims (or their
  families) received any form of compensation.
• Even though 99.8 of the victims had reported
  the accident to the Police, only 18 of the
  accidents had led to the motorist been charged.
• Only in 0.1 of the cases was any civil action
  initiated by the victim or his family, even
  though 5 indicated they would have taken legal
  recourse if they had the means and support to do
  so.

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Conclusions

• Urban poverty cannot be reduced significantly
  through economic growth, unless the transport
  facilities on which the poor are dependent are
  developed simultaneous to investments in
  employment generation opportunities.
• A present day cause of urban poverty that makes a
  large numbers of families destitute, is road
  accidents, wherein pedestrians who are ignored in
  road design and thereby subjected to a high
  degree of vulnerability on the roads, become
  casualties and unable to earn a living and are
  also deprived of legal recourse or insurance to
  obtain reasonable compensation for their losses.