Due to the lack of a convenient, reliable and efficient public transport service, many use private vehicles for their day-to-day transport resulting in heavy traffic congestion on urban roads and air pollution, a cabinet statement points out.

The SLTB has 6,300 buses in running condition and out of those 2,467 buses are more than 10 years old. Due to the frequent breakdown of the old buses providing a reliable and efficient bus service to the public is hindered. The SLTB needs 7,257 total buses to meet demand as per the time table.

Furthermore as the SLTB bus fleet totally runs by diesel, it is also responsible for air pollution.

Minister de Silva has also proposed to establish an environmentally friendly Bus Rapid Transit System that is easily accessible for the elderly and disabled passengers in the city of Colombo, and to purchase 50 air-conditioned, low-floor buses.