BusBooking.lk making intercity travel more convenient 

In a bold move to making travelling by public transport easier, BusBooking.lk is a relatively new site which aims to make your travel within more convenience. Currently the company operates a fleet of 35 modern luxury air-conditioned buses but are aiming to increase this number to 50. They are also in the process of adding new destinations to their already comprehensive network. 

Travelling within Sri Lanka by public transport has always had a negative image but the buses operated by BusBooking.lk has changed this perception. Busbooking.lk is a privately owned company run with the support of the National Transport Commission, a regulatory body for privately owned inter-provincial buses. 

Dinusha Kornkaduwa, the Operations Manager of BusBooking.lk said “We were not very happy with the public transport on offer in Sri Lanka and as given our IT background we first developed this reservations system which has been greatly received by travellers. On average we have about 100 bookings a day. However that is also rapidly increasing. Our customer base is mainly Sri Lankans but we are also witnessing a gradual increase in tourists who are also using this service. We want to provide a safe, comfortable and reliable service with a user friendly reservation system. Sri Lanka is a country that thrives on public transport. And we believe that our innovative solutions can create a positive impact on all Sri Lankan passengers and commuters, simply eliminating their non-value adding waiting-time which can be spend in a more productive and efficient way from now on,” 

Explaining the booking process, Dinusha said “ You go to our website which is Busbooking.lk and select the place where you want to board the bus and the destination you need to get to. Some routes have buses travelling at various times throughout the day, so select which bus you want to board. Once that is done you can select which seat you wish to reserve. You then have to enter your name, mobile number and email address. After that you are taken to the payment portal and you can make the payment by your credit/debit card. If you do not have a credit/debit card then you can also pay by Dialog, Etisalat, Mobitel or Hutch eZcash payment options. Confirmation of ticket purchase is email and smsed to you. You could also print out the confirmation. At the start of your journey all you do is show either the confirmation SMS, Email or print out the conductor and you are off on your journey. It is as simple as that!” 

Busbooking.lk offers a variety of destinations. The routes plying between Colombo - Badulla, Anuradhapura, Galle Jaffna, Matara, Trincomalee, Nuwara Eliya and Panadura to Kandy are the most popular. Other destinations are also available. Given the increase in numbers of people who are now keen to explore the island during vacation time or simply for those returning back to their hometowns, the convenience of BusBooking.lk is indeed very attractive. 

By Tina Edward Gunawardhana