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© Proceedings of the Ruhuna Quality Assurance Sessions 2021 (RUQAS 2021)
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21 September 2021

conditions (Almeida and Perera, 2015; Nanjundeswaraswamy et al., 2019). The Satisfied employees
are highly motivated for their work, empowering them to be more productive which benefits the

organization in the long run (Agarwal et al., 2020). However, a factor that gravely affects employee

productivity is a long exhaustive daily commute to their work. As a result, employees tend to feel tired
and less productive at work (Qutubuddin, 2017). Thus, it is essential to minimize this time wasting on

daily commuting in attaining employee productivity and organizational goals.

Minimizing the commuting time in rush hours has paid considerable attention for a long time
(Sampaio et al., 2008). In urban settings, traffic congestions have been a major problem in increased

commuting time of passengers (Bull, 2003; Kumarage, 2004). A well-organized traffic signal

management plan will provide multiple benefits in minimizing traffic congestions in rush hour (Fehon
and O'Brien, 2015). Alternatively, the lack of proper transport methods would also significantly

increase the commuting time. The problem arises due to recent trends in establishing industries and
institutions in rural areas having sufficient space for future development. However, the transport

systems are not properly developed in such areas for accommodating the needs of employees.

An exigency plan, aiming at enhancing the productivity of employees, is to introduce an organized

transport system for daily commuting. In the present context many organizations, located in rural areas
lacking proper public transport systems, including garments, banks, factories, universities tend to

provide transport facilities to their employees for their daily commuting needs. Rural areas with
tranquillity and scenic beauty are ideal locations for establishing academic institutions. The

universities established in such areas provide transport facilities to its staff and students for daily
commute (Cyride, 2021). Systematic and Scientific approaches have also been tested in analyzing and

improving employee transportation systems in universities using home addresses of employees as an

input (Akpinar et al., 2021).

Faculty of Technology, University of Ruhuna is one of the leading technology faculties in Sri Lanka.
This is in Karagoda-Uyangoda, Kamburupitiya a significant distance away from Matara. This area

requires infrastructure development including transportation services. Currently, the faculty have about

800 students with more than 100 staff members. The staff who daily transit via Matara and Godagama-
highway exit face difficulties due to non-availability of proper public transportation service to the

Faculty of Technology. Moreover, all the daily commuting staff and students must arrange a private
transportation method from Kamburupitiya clock tower to the Faculty of Technology, which is about

3.5 km. The distance from Godagama-Palatuwa exit to the Faculty of Technology is about 15 km,
which takes about 30 min with a proper transport service. However, there is no proper transport service

on this route. Usually, staff and students have to transit via Matara bus-stand to Kamburupitiya clock

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