Karachi: The CPEC Centre of Excellence has conducted a study on the public transportation system of Karachi, a news source reported. The results show that the existing system only meets 42% of the city’s total commuting demand. At the same time, it only hosts 4.5% of the total vehicles fleet.
The study further indicates that among the various modes of public transportation on offer, the buses serve the largest number of commuters. Karachi currently has around 21,800 registered and operational buses at its disposal. These vehicles carry 257 passengers on average – on a daily basis.
The concluding remarks of the CPEC study note that there exists significant disparity between the modes of transport and passengers. The reason behind this predicament is the lack of a comprehensive public transportation system. There is significant burden on the city’s insufficient public transport modes; with the situation complicated further by the absence of dedicated lanes. The study also mentions the unavailability of an efficient traffic management system.
Following its analysis, the said study suggests that the demand for the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) needs to increase. Provided that the authorities concerned operate and maintain it properly, the said initiative will help to shift the burden of public transport – as more people flock to use it.
The current plans detail operating KCR in six sets of locomotives.
These will individually come with a capacity of 17,520 trips per hour per direction (tphpd). The initial demand was predicted at 14,524 tphpd, with the system having a reserved capacity of around 17%. This capacity will be increased as the demand rises over time.
For this purpose, the number of peak house trains will be increased; with maximum capacity reaching up to 26,280 tphpd.
As opined in the report, the government will have to integrate KCR with other modes of public transportation to resolve the city’s commuter problems. However, the people of Karachi expect KCR to be up & running within a few years’ time – as it becomes an integral part of CPEC.
