Statement

Only 52% of our country uses public transport... 48% of the people use private transport.

Fact check

MP Dissanayaka on public transport: riding on Western Province data

To check this claim, FactCheck consulted the Urban Transport System Development Project for Colombo Metropolitan Region and Suburbs (CoMTrans) report published in 2014 which is publicly available on the Ministry of Transport website. The survey data used in this report is limited to the Western Province.

CoMTrans reports the share of trips (not distance) that each mode of transport accounts for in the Western province. If the MP is referring to only motorised transport, his claim that public transport (i.e. bus and railway) accounts for 52% of transport is correct (Exhibit 1). However, the MP mistakenly claims this percentage for the whole country, while the CoMTrans study applies only to the Western Province. Currently, there is no study that evaluates modal share of transport in the whole country.

Based on the above information, we classify the MP’s claim as PARTLY TRUE.

*FactCheck's verdict is based on the most recent information that is publicly accessible. As with every fact check, if new information becomes available, FactCheck will revisit the assessment.

Exhibit 1: Modal share in Western Province in 2014