August 3, 2003

The authorities keep hatching one public transport plan after the other, but millions of Karachiites continue to suffer endlessly

KARACHI is a city of more than ten million people, five million of which, commute via public transport. From the trams and circular railway to the latest green buses, various schemes have been introduced, over the years, to improve the efficacy of the intra-city transport system. The introduction of such schemes is accompanied by grand fanfare, to impress the public. However, no effort is made by the successive government to maintain these facilities. This negligence of maintenance and a general apathy of the law and order authorities, are responsible for the suffering of millions of commuters.

Lawlessness on roads, starts right from the place where permits are issued. There is no planning in the transport system. Route permits are also issued without any thought to the transport needs of different areas. The densely populated areas need more buses on their routes, but the commuters have to wait for hours for them to arrive. The transporters want to follow only those routes where they can squeeze more fare out of the commuters

It is a common sight for the passengers that when on some route and traffic checking is in progress, the minibus drivers are informed by their fellow drivers, of other buses. As a result, the drivers take a U-turn to avoid checking of their registration papers, as they have none. Another implication is that they have been issued permits to run on routes other than they are running on.

Once, when the population of Karachi was not this enormous and trams and double deck busses were still available, things were not this chaotic. Cycle rickshaws were also a means of transportation. Life was easy for the commuters who used public transport. Drivers were careful with human life and conductors were courteous.

During Ayub Khan’s regime, cycle rickshaws were banned on humanitarian grounds. In the early 60s, double deck buses disappeared. A little after that, tramways were removed from the roads without providing an alternative means of conveyance. With a rapid increase in population, the citizens were left at the mercy of the circular railway and buses. Due to lack of facilities and increase in population, manners and etiquette were forgotten. And within no time, the means of transport turned into chasing death squads.

In the 80s, the circular railway also closed down. As an alternative, the commuters were provided with Ford wagons. Travelling in these wagons was a punishment. One had to pay more than the bus fare to crouch in these wagons, as the roofs were very low. The fare was higher because the wagons were faster than the busses. Nobody took notice of the deaths caused by their high speed. In 1980 minibuses were introduced on the roads. Their fare was more than the wagon fare for the same reason, i. e., they were faster than the wagons. One could, however, stand straight in them.

Nawaz government introduced coaches along with yellow cabs in 1992. It was happily announced that the fare was increased because the yellow cabs and coaches were air-conditioned and had digital fare meter. Soon,the air conditioners disappeared form yellow cabs and fare meters were tempered with. Now, the cab drivers charge the passengers exuberant sums, and refuse to turn on the ACs. The story of coaches is not any different. Seating arrangements were made on top of the engine cover. Windows lost their panes. Passengers were seen hanging from the doors of the coaches.

Year 2000 dawned with the pleasant introduction of Metro buses. This coaster service was fully air-conditioned and claimed to change the transport culture of Karachi. It did not pick up more passengers than the seating capacity allowed. Its fare was the highest compared to other services.

These buses were run only on four routes. Their drivers and conductors were given proper training, to bring the bus to a dead halt before taking in a passenger or letting one out and to keep the doors closed. It actually happened. But after sometime, the attitude of drivers and conductors changed and the same old Mazda culture returned.

They do keep the doors closed, run the air conditioner and maintain a safe speed. They also provide a ticket for the fare. Yet, they ignore road safety acts and run in the right hand lane instead of the left. The result is that passengers cannot get into them, because the Metro does not find a place to stop, despite its vacant seats. Conductors try to take in and out the passengers from running vehicle.

Recently, the city government introduced the Urban Transport Scheme. This Scheme includes buses with a large number of seats and a mono train system. Two private companies are already running their buses under this Scheme. One of them is the Swede Greenbus, which has been operating for the last six months.

The Green Buses have been imported from Sweden and run on diesel. As a safe guard against pollution caused by diesel, these are fitted with Euro II to decrease smoke emission. They charge a fare of Rs. 10/-, 15/- and 20/- depending on the destination.

Currently, they are running from New Karachi to Tower (4- C) and from Surjani Town heading towards Tower (2-B). Both routes make 40 stops. As it tries to provide reliable transport to white-collar workers, The Green Bus Company is planing to erect bus stop shelters for the convenience of its passengers.

The introduction of this scheme is also a solution to the parking problem. Karachi is short of parking lots. If pople can get a proper public transport service, why take one’s car and leave it in the parking lot for hours and pay a large parking fee? The Greenbus Company has also made sure that the drivers and conductors of the buses are properly trained. It provided training to the drivers and conductors in its own workshop, by an experienced gentleman who has come from Sweden to impart the training.

Atleast 5000 such buses are to be provided, according to their contract. So far, only 32 have been imported by the Greenbus Company.

About 14 public transport companies had promised the Karachi City Government, on 9th May 2002 that they would be running their buses on roads by December’ 2002, under the Karachi Urban Transport Scheme. As of yet, only two companies have kept their promise. The other is the Karachi Green Bus Company.

Karachi Green Bus Company has introduced, so far, 28 buses , imported from China that run on CNG. By December 2004, they will hit the target of 300 hundred buses. Amusingly, Karachi Green Buses are white with only a thin green margin.

Undoubtedly, the buses running under the Urban Transport Scheme are spacious, comfortable and air-conditioned but a general complain is that with an overload of passengers and an atmosphere of suffocation prevails in the buses.

Both these companies hire matriculates for drivers and conductors and then train them at their own workshops. All their systems are computerized and they run their buses on international standards. Since these buses cost four times the Metro buses, and the owners cannot afford to take a risk with their investment, they make sure that their drivers drive with caution.

In Karachi as a reaction to a minor accident, the bus is burnt down by the mob. According to Irshad Bukhari, President Bus Owners Association, earlier in riots, 1200 buses were burnt down and the compensation amount was only Rs100,000/. In Lahore and Rawalpindi, the public only deflates the tyres of a bus following an accident, whereas in Karachi, without realizing the consequences, the whole bus is set ablaze.

The Karachi public needs to be convinced that such facilities are for their own convinience and they should use them with care. The complaint phone number for the Greenbus is 6950375 Complaint phone numbers for the Chinese CNG run green bus are 6996647 and 6996640.

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