Yes, you read the title correctly; it is about the most eligible public transport in town and not the most eligible bachelor in town. Therefore, the article does not foster sexual discrimination and caters to both males and females by offering them exciting new and old public transportation facilities. If you’re searching all around your city to find your ‘Desired One’; you no longer need to rummage, for I have the definitive list of the town’s most eligible public transport and their current status.
Latest CNG buses: Only for Lahoris? Check. Smoldering good looks? Check. Heart throbbing physique? Check.. Burgeoning blockbuster release? Check. CNG? Uncheck, uncheck and uncheck.
Air transport: More specifically, PIA (read: Pakistan International Airlines). As long as you’re okay with some flight delays, unexpected mood swings, uncooperative staff, skyrocketing fares, etc; you are free to book your tickets. However, there is a lot more exciting as side liners, so don’t worry if this does not work for you, because we have three new airlines coming up, very soon. Railways: It sure has a reputation of being a bit inefficient, but there’s no doubt that there has to be a whole story behind its rotten case study. Hint: a billion-dollar catch *runs to buy tickets of the new private train starting from January, 2012*
Local buses: I understand, ‘If we don’t have railways, we can use buses instead,’ but can we really trust the latter? The disproportionate hike in diesel prices has also further increased the inefficiency of these local buses. Rickshaws: I love the feel of travelling on a rickshaw, but it makes me sad when the rickshaw wala demands for more money just because ‘peetrole’ is too expensive and there is a CNG strike for god knows how many days. Metro: Don’t mistake it with Metro Cash & Carry. This option is not even on the list. Subway: Again, we can only take it on face value and extract good vegetarian or non-vegetarian sandwiches and salad from here. Good news, it will take us on a journey to taste the ‘international food’, without moving a single inch.
The definition of public transport here in Pakistan, today, is a misnomer owing to the public institutions’ inefficiency and public’s general impression of the entire concept of public transport. Weighing both the public and public transport dilemma is therefore, of extreme importance. Starting with the former; the public dilemma is better analysed as a ‘pseudo facial’ mentality that runs for an attractive private transport, but would disregard the most eligible public transport in town. No, I am not talking about the luxurious buses in town that do not hurt your ‘conscious tag’, but all the rest available at your disposal, in your respective cities. Public needs to change their habits, lifestyles and attitudes; not their cars.
Similarly, coming to the public transport dilemma; public transport has not been in such a dire state since the day of its conception, it has taken continuous levels of mismanagement and corruption to bring it to this stage. Putting it correctly, public transport is in serious competition with private transport on a number of fronts. And definitely there are advantages for everyone in developing public transport. For every extra person who takes up a public transport ceases the possibility of one person travelling from car, hence, less congestion on the roads and less competition for those scarce parking spots. At the end of day, we fail to address the huge responsibility that rests on our shoulders. We need to become the rekindled change agents to bring transformation in the society as a whole, instead of waiting on the system to change. No doubt, the foremost solution is to improve the public transport in order to serve the demand. But then again, change should be on both sides. The public should also realise and inculcate the habit of preferring frequent use of public transport over private.
The writer is Sub-Editor,
Profit. She can be reached at syedmaheen@hotmail.com