Abstract:
The Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), the state-owned bus operator in Sri Lanka, is
found to have effectively served the purpose of social inclusivity and welfare service
provision over the years; but, has failed in achieving financial viability, evidenced by
its heavy debts. This paper presents the findings of a research in which the fixed cost
management of SLTB and its relationship to structural parameters and to bus depot
operating performance were studied. An intra-organisational examination was
performed using cost data for the year 2014, adopting statistical methods such as trend
evaluation, regression, outlier identification, and comparison of deviations. The results
confirmed the presence of economies of scale and the possibility of operating at an
optimum bus-depot size, worked out to be at around 145 buses. A large majority of
depots in Sri Lanka were found to be much smaller than this optimal depot size, likely
for political reasons.
