By Hadi Zafar
Karachi, also known as the ‘Roshniyon ka Sheher’, is a unique metropolitan city due to the combination of a rigorous work environment and a vibrant social life, which ensures that the city never sleeps. This implies that, no matter what time of the day it is, traffic remains busy in the city. According to a report published by the Government of Sindh, Karachi is under rapid urbanization of 5% per annum and an increase in car ownership of its citizens by 13% annually. In addition, two of the three functioning seaports of our country are in Karachi and the goods obtained through the shipments at these ports are transported to other cities with the help of heavy trucks, which means a higher circulation of heavy vehicles within the city. This horribly deteriorates the traffic flow within the city. In addition, the non-compliance of citizens to traffic laws; running red lights, driving the wrong ways, parking on restricted spots etc. further aggravates the problem. This indicates that traffic congestion is a significant aspect of life in Karachi.
However, none of these factors match the magnitude by which the absence of a proper public transport mechanism exacerbates the traffic dilemma in Karachi. As Bloomberg reported in 2020, Mister Auto, a car parts company, conducted a study in 2019 where it looked at 100 major cities around the globe and concluded that Karachi has the worst public transport in the world. It reported that Karachi’s public transport accommodates only 42% of Karachi’s commuters. Not to mention, even these 42% of commuters of public transport are not fortunate enough to avail a quality service that they deserve, and they have to rely on the decades-old degenerated minibusses and qingqi rickshaws. Since, the newly started diesel Hybrid Buses are inadequate. Furthermore, the way these vehicles operate is highly undesirable for travelers, with the travellers having no idea about the schedule of the vehicles’ arrival at a particular station. And the riskiest part is that drivers overcrowd the bus with travellers sitting on the rooftops of the buses. As a result, citizens who own a vehicle are forced to use their vehicles as a means of transportation at all times of the day, including the early morning hours when a large number of citizens have to reach their schools, colleges, universities, and workplace destinations. The same goes during the evening hours when people have to return home from their educational institutes and workplaces. Hence, these two time periods are identified as the peak traffic hours. In contrast, if the degeneracy of the public transportation mechanism was not a problem, then fewer private vehicles would have been on the roads and traffic woes would have been alleviated.
Therefore, the provision of a holistic mass transit system in Karachi is the need of the time, as it promises to be a solution for traffic congestion and for a dysfunctional public transportation facility. Although the Sindh Government has specified its vision of “a well-planned integrated mass transportation mechanism” in Karachi, that encompasses the Bus Rapid Transit(BRT) System and the Karachi Circular Railway(KCR), too little has been done, and that, too late. The BRT System includes the Green Line, Red Line, Orange Line, Yellow Line, Blue Line, and the People’s Bus Service project. No doubt the whole scheme is an ambitious initiative, but the progress seems slow. As of yet, the Green Line, Orange Line, and the Peoples Bus Service are operational on a limited scale. Under the Peoples Bus Service, 130 buses circulate on 7 routes around the city, along with the pink buses running exclusively for females on 3 routes. In addition, the Green Line project, which took off after a delay of 3 years in 2021, is providing a modern transportation facility to 135,000 citizens of Karachi’s western and central districts. Considering the high population of these districts, the service seems to miss out on a lot of possible commuters of these areas. On the other hand, the slow progress of the ongoing projects can be realized by the fact that a mass transit project like the Red Line remained in the doldrums for around 12 years since 2010, until the project’s foundation stone was laid in February 2022. Added to that, the revival of the Karachi Circular Railway has been promised since ‘eternity’ seems like an uphill battle, as it is still not known whether the provincial or federal government will fund the project.
The emphasis on the defects of the public transportation mechanism and the ongoing projects is not meant to suggest that these projects have failed in the provision of a suitable public transport mechanism, rather I would argue that these projects can be a game changer for Karachi if the government tries to manage them prudently by taking the following steps.
Firstly, the provincial government must consider implementing better fund management. For instance, the provincial government must consider diverting funds away from the development of underpasses, flyovers, etc., and focus on improving public transport facilities that urgently require these funds. A recent example is the ongoing Jauhar Chowrangi underpass and flyover project which has a total cost of Rs2.14 billion.
Secondly, the stakeholders involved in the development of a mass transit project must continue these projects with ideas to expand them further, so that all parts of the city are well connected by the mass transit system, contrary to the current scenario where limited buses cover limited areas of the city.
Finally and very importantly, the private sector must be encouraged to participate in the provision of public transportation. The last of the measures it could take is to ease regulations and provide incentives such as tax breaks or provision of subsidies. However, what is more, required are initiatives such as Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and competitive tendering in the public transport sector. PPPs would allow private entities to invest in and manage the public transport mechanism while sharing risks, responsibilities, and revenues with the government. Competitive tendering in the public transport sector would allow firms to submit their proposals for a public transport project and the government chooses the best bid based on criteria such as service quality, pricing, and operational efficiency.
A fully functioning public transport will not just ease traffic congestion problems in the city, it will ensure a better living standard for Karachiites which is a basic right.