This study includes an analysis of the conditions of existing public transport services; future transportation needs, and public-transportation alternatives as a means of enhancing intercity transport in Sri Lanka. Daily passengers, known as commuters, comprise regular passengers and non-regular passengers. Irrespective of mode of transport, it is not apparent whether all passengers are satisfied with their trips in terms of service quality, travel time, reliability of the service, comfort level and safety. Introduction of an alternative transport service which has lower generalized costs would undeniably be a better solution to attract more commuters. Turcotte (2006) finds that there are more people who like commuting than those who are reluctant to commute. The younger generation dislikes commuting for longer durations, whereas more people like to commute on public transit than driving their own car, because it provides them an opportunity to think about personal matters, read a book, listen to music, or talk over the phone. The study, which is based on the influence of stress level, shows that passenger perceptions of daily travel are mostly based on the duration of travel time. According to Breidert, Hashler and Reutterer (2006), willingness to pay can be measured in different ways. Surveying is not the sole method that can be used. Louviere et al (2000), has found out that willingness to pay measurements can be categorised in to two main parts: ‘revealed preference’ which is based on price response data and ‘stated preference’ based on data obtained from surveys. This research mainly focuses on passenger demand for the current inter-provincial bus services and the introduction of an alternative ferry service for commuter. Passenger ferry service is among the main solutions implemented in different countries for public transportation. Compared to bus transportation, ferry services have higher flexibility, less infrastructure costs, high passenger-carrying capacity and also can serve large geographical areas although with less transfers.

Gayathry, P., & Bandara, M.Y. (2017). A feasibility study of ferry transport service from a transport-planning perspective: case of public ferry between Colombo and Mannar [Extended Abstract]. In T.L. Gunaruwan (Ed.), Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Research for Transport and Logistics Industry 2017 (pp. 129-133). Sri Lanka Society of Transport and Logistics. https://slstl.lk/r4tli-2017/