Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways Dr. Prasanna Gunasena revealed in Parliament on November 5 that around 70% of the state bus fleet is fit for operation. He was replying to a query raised by Member of Parliament Rohitha Abeygunawardena.
According to the Deputy Minister, the SLTB owns a total of 6,987 ordinary buses and 143 luxury buses. However, over 2,000 of these vehicles are currently sitting idle and out of service.
Provincial spread of private buses
Dr. Prasanna Gunasena also shared numbers on private buses running across the country. Western Province leads the pack with 5,524 buses, followed by 2,433 in Central Province and 1,866 in Sabaragamuwa Province.
Southern Province has 1,326 private buses, while North Western Province records 1,324. Uva Province accounts for 1,043, Northern Province has 976, Eastern Province has 520, and North Central Province has 509 buses.
NTC permit breakdown
The Deputy Minister noted that the National Transport Commission (NTC) had given out permits to 2,966 private buses as of October 1.
This total includes 1,826 ordinary service buses, 651 luxury buses, 257 semi-luxury buses, and 232 super-luxury buses.
