Minister of Transport, Highways and Mass Media, Dr. Bandula Gunawardena has instructed the National Transport Commission (NTC) to deploy 500 new buses for the Government’s subsidised Sisu Seriya bus service for school, technical college and university students which has been operating since 2005.
One thousand five hundred and thirty seven buses, including 811 buses of the Sri Lanka Transport Board and 726 private buses, have been deployed for Sisu Seriya and the Government is providing a subsidy of Rs. 2,000 million this year for this.
Minister Gunawardena has given instructions to use the NTC revenue to run 500 new buses for students due to the demand for school buses from all parts of the country after the increase in transport fares. After the Chairman of the Regional Development Committee of each province sends the proposal to the NTC, the buses will be deployed to those areas.
The NTC said that the Minister has given instructions to use new buses by identifying the routes to cover the maximum number of schools with one bus – to cover the whole island. One bus will cover about three schools, i.e. around 500 new buses will cover nearly 1,500 schools, and a large number of students will be facilitated.
The aim of the Sisu Seriya project is to provide school students with the opportunity to travel safely and comfortably to their school. This service will also operate at a subsidised fee, encouraging parents to send their children to school and also providing financial relief to families.
