Experts says Bus Rapid Transport will minimise commuters’ woes in Sindh, particularly Karachi
Speakers and experts were of the opinion that BRT (Bus Rapid Transport) will definitely be able to minimise the commuters’ woes in Sindh, particularly Karachi, as five lines will be run initially on various routes.
In a consultative session of PAKSTRAN – Pakistan Sustainable Transport Project undertaken by the UNDP held on Thursday, National Project, PAKSTRAN, Chairman Dr Saleem Janjua said that PAKSTRAN project was an initiative of UNDP with government counterparts had actively shown progress in providing technical assistance to the government in augmentation of BRT/Metro Bus by way of capacity building, awareness and technical studies.
Dr Saleem has acknowledged the efforts of PAKSTRAN and showed satisfaction on the role of transportation department in its effort. He further stated that it was incident that the transport sector was changing rapidly therefore clear and defined vision for the urban areas was required that defines formulation associated reforms, achievable programme and investment framework. He told the participants that they needed to make their country a good place to do business and they needed to make sustainable transport infrastructure. He further said that because of these all reasons this national implemented project (NIM) has been launched in collaboration with the government of Pakistan and the provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab.
Speaking on the occasion, Component Manager Sindh Yar Muhammad said that BRT (Bus Rapid Transport) being introduced in 2016 positively considering it as the best solution to the problems of transport in Karachi.
Government of Sindh is working on 4 four priority corridors which are as under: 1. BRT Blue Line 2. BRT Yellow Line 3. BRT Orange LIine 4. BRT Red Line.
Yar Muhammad argued on the occasion that the growing city could not wait mass transit system until the economic level of the city was high enough to introduce expensive system. To improve the public transport system in Karachi, BRT was the best system on the project corridors considering the cost-efficiency and available resources, he added.
The maximum capacity of a standard BRT is approximately 13,000 (52,000 in 4 lines) passengers per hour per direction, he said, adding BRT makes reference to the transportation networking considering connection with other modes and possibility of transit from private car. He further said that their approach towards sustainability works around their activities as CIU Sindh has organised as many as 55 consultative sessions besides five workshops and 2 weekly articulated trainings.
He emphasized on the need of modern transport systems in the city which will be economically, socially and logically necessary and beneficial for the country as Karachi was the port city and economical hub of Pakistan. Transport sector is perhaps the biggest consumer of energy resources of the country and a significant contributor to the noise and air pollution, especially in urban areas. To address the transport-related problems in Pakistan, Pakistan Sustainable Transport Project (PAKSTRAN) is being implemented by the government of Pakistan.
Ali Sher Mirani, the Deputy Secretary Transport & Mass Transit Department, said with joint efforts of all stakeholders and demand of Karachi’s people, the Sindh government is going to start initial infrastructural development in 2016 positively. ”We need stakeholders support and full cooperation in this regard, because inconvenience occurs during these developments,” he added.
