Sri Lanka to award 89 bus route permits under new scoring system

EconomyNext reports that Sri Lanka plans to award around 89 bus route permits during November under a revised selection system approved by the Cabinet. Deputy Transport Minister Prasanna Gunasena said the National Transport Commission (NTC) would publish advertisements and assess applications using defined scoring criteria and procurement procedures.

EconomyNext says the new process applies directly to the NTC; provincial council transport services fall outside the deputy minister’s ministry. The report does not specify the routes covered or when applications will open.

EconomyNext reports that the government is also preparing a new method for calculating bus fares. Gunasena said the proposed formula would consider bus maintenance, spare parts and related costs, rather than relying only on fuel costs; the report gives no timetable for its introduction.

EconomyNext reports that daily private bus operations have fallen to between 11,000 and 12,000 vehicles, after owners sold buses during the COVID-19 crisis amid financial strain. It says the state-run Sri Lanka Transport Board operates about 5,000 buses a day out of approximately 7,130 registered units, providing around one-third of public transport service.

Written automatically by AI from the outlets’ own reports, and not reviewed by an editor. It can be wrong — the original report is the authority.