W.11
BANNED
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2011
- Messages
- 15,032
- Reaction score
- -32
- Country
- Location
Karachi Transport Mafia: Unveiling the mask
If you see a truck that delivers chicken to butcher shops you will find out that there is more roam for chickens in their crate than there is space for passengers in these buses.
The population of Karachi today, by rough estimates, is said to be above 22.7 million and would touch 27.5 million by 2020 (KMC estimates). Public transport is crucial to any cities development and is one of the basic civil rights a government owes to its citizens. However, sadly in a huge city like Karachi, citizens' lacks any proper arrangement of such kind as no proper public transport system exists for them and the one that does is less for the welfare of the citizens and more for the exploitation by the transport mafia.
This public transport that this city exists on consists of a system of sub-standard coaches and minibuses (here after referred to as public buses), which are operated and are under the complete ownership of private owners. Around 14,520,000 of person trips are made by Karachiites using these public buses daily (on workdays) to travel from one place to other for various purposes.
As per the data collected in 2012, there are 12,400 permit holding public buses (the term bus here includes transportation vehicle including buses, mini buses and coaches on average having 26 seats each) currently operational on roads in Karachi, if you include the number of these vehicles without legal permit the number goes way high. Which makes it one bus for every 1,171 people and 45 passengers per bus seat. These tightening figures must give you an idea what a struggle it is for the common citizens of Karachi to commute from one place to another daily and would also explain the sights you might have seen on roads, where people are hanging by one hand on doors, windows or sitting on top of roofs, putting their lives in danger.
It is extremely depressing how people are forced to travel in such a way by stripping them away from any other alternative. If you see a truck that delivers chicken to butcher shops you will find out that there is more roam for chickens in their crate than there is space for passengers in these buses.
To top that there is no consistency in the schedule of these buses. Sometimes you might get your desired bus after waiting for five minutes, sometimes it might take an hour. Transporters decide when and how many buses they will bring on roads on any given day, the citizen have no choice but to adjust accordingly. If it's a CNG closure day, transporters will bring less number of buses to the roads to save money which will results in a huge number of people waiting at bus stops and running towards a bus when they see one.
Fares
These private bus owners also do not accept any direction when it comes to fare charges nor there is any standard formula defined to decide bus fares. Citizens of Karachi are bound to pay whatever has been asked from them or sit at home. The fare is always increased with the increasing petrol rate but when petrol prices drop, the prices of bus fare hardly ever come down proportionately. .
On an average one sided fare per passenger on a bus is 20 rupees (regardless whether you are sitting, standing or hanging) with the roam for 26 passengers to sit (However, there are often more than double on board in a bus who are standing inside or on door or sitting over the roof). But taking a fair average figure than one time at least 40 passengers are on board in a bus it gives us that a bus collects 800 PKR for a one sided trip and all 12,400 buses collects 9,920,000 PKR for one trip. Given that a bus completed 10 such trips in day the figure becomes 99,200,000 PKR which is the amount of money citizens of Karachi pay on account of bus fares in one day.
Misbehaving with the passengers
Most of the drivers are not educated at all, driven into this business as a young child and kept away from education. Hence they lack proper manner to deal with the public, they often misbehave with the passengers over petty issues such as taking fare or asking them to snug in so roam can be created for more passengers.
Their behavior with female passengers is to be condemned above all, in Karachi buses are supposed to have separate section in front only for ladies but they easily allow men to ride in those sections as well, they misbehave with women regularly also cussing and catcalling is very usual phenomenon, often fights erupts in between passengers and with the conductors and drivers over their remarks about passengers.
Security
As these public buses are not owned by any government authority, they possess a danger to the citizen at various levels. Most of the drivers of these buses are not trained for driving large vehicles, sometimes one may be shocked to see underage boys driving these buses with no knowledge of traffic rules and conduct, often over speeding and overtaking other vehicles in a very dangerous manner. This does not only endanger the lives of the people travelling in these buses but also others on the road. Mostly these reckless and inexperienced drivers are responsible for most of the road accidents in Karachi, making Karachi roads one of the most dangerous ones to commute on. More than 1000 per year lose their lives in Karachi due to road accidents and more than 35,000 accidents occur every year leaving many injured or disabled.
Beside these direct effects, this public transport system has also been giving rise to many major conflicts in city. The Bushra Zaidi case is monumental in this regard, where a road incident lead to the start of ethnic riots resulted in 50 casualties with 300 people injured within a week. Since then there exists a strong divide in this city over particular ethnic lines, all this hatred have roots in this transportation system.
Another rising concern is the illegal usage of low quality cylinders for CNG in these buses. These cylinders are usually meant for general usage and not made for high pressure CNG usage and are fitted in the passenger area of the buses putting the lives of the commuters in great danger .
These overly filled buses are hardly stopped by LEAs during snap checking, as it is not practically possible to stop each of these buses and check everyone in and out and as they are not regulated by any government agencies hence their monitoring practically becomes near to impossible, which makes them a security risk, a camouflaged way for terrorists to travel form one point to other within a city or even transfer weapons or other illegal material such as drugs .
Time to Commute
These buses stops rapidly at random stops resulting in road jams, waiting for longer than usual on one stop if there are not enough passengers. This increases the overall travel time for the passengers and also make it uncertain for the passengers to calculate the time to reach their destination if they are in a rush.
However, with this direct link the public transport also affects the average commuting time in Karachi. Due to this deteriorating condition of the system, people as soon as they can afford move towards a personal means of transportation, whether it is a bike or a car, which means more traffic on roads, leading to a collapse of the traffic flow especially in peak hours during which the time to reach from one place to another can double.
Monopoly
Not just the government but also the transport mafia which runs these public buses isn't ready to do any good for the citizens by improving the condition of these buses. They also don't let any alternative transport system grow in this city in parallel to them, in order to keep the monopoly in their hands.
One of the many examples is when standardized, comfortable CNG green buses were introduced by Mustafa Kamal (Mayor of Karachi belonging to MQM) in Karachi, the buses and their stations were attacked and also criticized on an official level by a representative of these transporters sitting in the assembly , as they, through their influence, always manages to get hold of transport ministry, which then works to hunt down any alternative transportation project in pipeline for the city and is supposed to alter this grieved state of Karachi transport such as big Karachi Mass Transit Plan (1987-1991), Karachi transport improvement project (KITP - 2009), circular railway service in Karachi and Karachi mass transit projects . The same transport mafia has also been blamed for being the influence behind bans over rapid pillion ridings of motorcycles and Qingqi rickshaws in the city.
In 2009 the transport minister of that time himself happened to be a transporter, also said on record that "CDGK's job is to clean drains not to run transport for citizens". However Mustafa Kamal kept his efforts going to keep these buses on the roads as far as he was in charge, but as soon as he left so did the buses. The remaining buses which were recently 're-launched' by Sind Gov. after changing their name to SMBB Bus Service, they are same as far as the color is concerned beside that they are now being operated just like all other buses.
Karachi being among the top five biggest and populous cities of the world is lacking way behind in this context. It's hard to even compare the public transportation structures with other mega cities as there is hardly anything that could be referred to as a structure. And if this makes you questions why only we are getting this treatment? The answer to this from my point of view is because we never spoke against it or supported those whole heartedly who wanted to do any good. Those who can't do anything else keep traveling in these buses while those who can afford manage to get other means of transportation. However as a citizen of Karachi, we never took any firm stand against it and kept getting exploited this way for over 50 years now, when we deserved better!
The need is for the citizen and the government to own Karachi only then they will be ready to accept their problems as the problem of the masses. Karachi's problem can only be understood and resolved but its government charge will be in the hands of people who belongs to this city and have gone through its problems. A strong political will and hard action is needed to take down this 50 year strong mafia in Karachi and set citizens of Karachi free from these shackles, giving them a lifestyle which may not be luxurious but at least humane enough for citizens to live peacefully in.
All the above core figures are taken from various online and published sources majorly including The Person Trips Study of Karachi City (JICA, 2005), Karachi Mass Transit Program (2012), Karachi transport improvement project (KITP - 2009) and further estimates are derived from those basic figures.
If you see a truck that delivers chicken to butcher shops you will find out that there is more roam for chickens in their crate than there is space for passengers in these buses.
The population of Karachi today, by rough estimates, is said to be above 22.7 million and would touch 27.5 million by 2020 (KMC estimates). Public transport is crucial to any cities development and is one of the basic civil rights a government owes to its citizens. However, sadly in a huge city like Karachi, citizens' lacks any proper arrangement of such kind as no proper public transport system exists for them and the one that does is less for the welfare of the citizens and more for the exploitation by the transport mafia.
This public transport that this city exists on consists of a system of sub-standard coaches and minibuses (here after referred to as public buses), which are operated and are under the complete ownership of private owners. Around 14,520,000 of person trips are made by Karachiites using these public buses daily (on workdays) to travel from one place to other for various purposes.
As per the data collected in 2012, there are 12,400 permit holding public buses (the term bus here includes transportation vehicle including buses, mini buses and coaches on average having 26 seats each) currently operational on roads in Karachi, if you include the number of these vehicles without legal permit the number goes way high. Which makes it one bus for every 1,171 people and 45 passengers per bus seat. These tightening figures must give you an idea what a struggle it is for the common citizens of Karachi to commute from one place to another daily and would also explain the sights you might have seen on roads, where people are hanging by one hand on doors, windows or sitting on top of roofs, putting their lives in danger.
It is extremely depressing how people are forced to travel in such a way by stripping them away from any other alternative. If you see a truck that delivers chicken to butcher shops you will find out that there is more roam for chickens in their crate than there is space for passengers in these buses.
To top that there is no consistency in the schedule of these buses. Sometimes you might get your desired bus after waiting for five minutes, sometimes it might take an hour. Transporters decide when and how many buses they will bring on roads on any given day, the citizen have no choice but to adjust accordingly. If it's a CNG closure day, transporters will bring less number of buses to the roads to save money which will results in a huge number of people waiting at bus stops and running towards a bus when they see one.
Fares
These private bus owners also do not accept any direction when it comes to fare charges nor there is any standard formula defined to decide bus fares. Citizens of Karachi are bound to pay whatever has been asked from them or sit at home. The fare is always increased with the increasing petrol rate but when petrol prices drop, the prices of bus fare hardly ever come down proportionately. .
On an average one sided fare per passenger on a bus is 20 rupees (regardless whether you are sitting, standing or hanging) with the roam for 26 passengers to sit (However, there are often more than double on board in a bus who are standing inside or on door or sitting over the roof). But taking a fair average figure than one time at least 40 passengers are on board in a bus it gives us that a bus collects 800 PKR for a one sided trip and all 12,400 buses collects 9,920,000 PKR for one trip. Given that a bus completed 10 such trips in day the figure becomes 99,200,000 PKR which is the amount of money citizens of Karachi pay on account of bus fares in one day.
Misbehaving with the passengers
Most of the drivers are not educated at all, driven into this business as a young child and kept away from education. Hence they lack proper manner to deal with the public, they often misbehave with the passengers over petty issues such as taking fare or asking them to snug in so roam can be created for more passengers.
Their behavior with female passengers is to be condemned above all, in Karachi buses are supposed to have separate section in front only for ladies but they easily allow men to ride in those sections as well, they misbehave with women regularly also cussing and catcalling is very usual phenomenon, often fights erupts in between passengers and with the conductors and drivers over their remarks about passengers.
Security
As these public buses are not owned by any government authority, they possess a danger to the citizen at various levels. Most of the drivers of these buses are not trained for driving large vehicles, sometimes one may be shocked to see underage boys driving these buses with no knowledge of traffic rules and conduct, often over speeding and overtaking other vehicles in a very dangerous manner. This does not only endanger the lives of the people travelling in these buses but also others on the road. Mostly these reckless and inexperienced drivers are responsible for most of the road accidents in Karachi, making Karachi roads one of the most dangerous ones to commute on. More than 1000 per year lose their lives in Karachi due to road accidents and more than 35,000 accidents occur every year leaving many injured or disabled.
Beside these direct effects, this public transport system has also been giving rise to many major conflicts in city. The Bushra Zaidi case is monumental in this regard, where a road incident lead to the start of ethnic riots resulted in 50 casualties with 300 people injured within a week. Since then there exists a strong divide in this city over particular ethnic lines, all this hatred have roots in this transportation system.
Another rising concern is the illegal usage of low quality cylinders for CNG in these buses. These cylinders are usually meant for general usage and not made for high pressure CNG usage and are fitted in the passenger area of the buses putting the lives of the commuters in great danger .
These overly filled buses are hardly stopped by LEAs during snap checking, as it is not practically possible to stop each of these buses and check everyone in and out and as they are not regulated by any government agencies hence their monitoring practically becomes near to impossible, which makes them a security risk, a camouflaged way for terrorists to travel form one point to other within a city or even transfer weapons or other illegal material such as drugs .
Time to Commute
These buses stops rapidly at random stops resulting in road jams, waiting for longer than usual on one stop if there are not enough passengers. This increases the overall travel time for the passengers and also make it uncertain for the passengers to calculate the time to reach their destination if they are in a rush.
However, with this direct link the public transport also affects the average commuting time in Karachi. Due to this deteriorating condition of the system, people as soon as they can afford move towards a personal means of transportation, whether it is a bike or a car, which means more traffic on roads, leading to a collapse of the traffic flow especially in peak hours during which the time to reach from one place to another can double.
Monopoly
Not just the government but also the transport mafia which runs these public buses isn't ready to do any good for the citizens by improving the condition of these buses. They also don't let any alternative transport system grow in this city in parallel to them, in order to keep the monopoly in their hands.
One of the many examples is when standardized, comfortable CNG green buses were introduced by Mustafa Kamal (Mayor of Karachi belonging to MQM) in Karachi, the buses and their stations were attacked and also criticized on an official level by a representative of these transporters sitting in the assembly , as they, through their influence, always manages to get hold of transport ministry, which then works to hunt down any alternative transportation project in pipeline for the city and is supposed to alter this grieved state of Karachi transport such as big Karachi Mass Transit Plan (1987-1991), Karachi transport improvement project (KITP - 2009), circular railway service in Karachi and Karachi mass transit projects . The same transport mafia has also been blamed for being the influence behind bans over rapid pillion ridings of motorcycles and Qingqi rickshaws in the city.
In 2009 the transport minister of that time himself happened to be a transporter, also said on record that "CDGK's job is to clean drains not to run transport for citizens". However Mustafa Kamal kept his efforts going to keep these buses on the roads as far as he was in charge, but as soon as he left so did the buses. The remaining buses which were recently 're-launched' by Sind Gov. after changing their name to SMBB Bus Service, they are same as far as the color is concerned beside that they are now being operated just like all other buses.
Karachi being among the top five biggest and populous cities of the world is lacking way behind in this context. It's hard to even compare the public transportation structures with other mega cities as there is hardly anything that could be referred to as a structure. And if this makes you questions why only we are getting this treatment? The answer to this from my point of view is because we never spoke against it or supported those whole heartedly who wanted to do any good. Those who can't do anything else keep traveling in these buses while those who can afford manage to get other means of transportation. However as a citizen of Karachi, we never took any firm stand against it and kept getting exploited this way for over 50 years now, when we deserved better!
The need is for the citizen and the government to own Karachi only then they will be ready to accept their problems as the problem of the masses. Karachi's problem can only be understood and resolved but its government charge will be in the hands of people who belongs to this city and have gone through its problems. A strong political will and hard action is needed to take down this 50 year strong mafia in Karachi and set citizens of Karachi free from these shackles, giving them a lifestyle which may not be luxurious but at least humane enough for citizens to live peacefully in.
All the above core figures are taken from various online and published sources majorly including The Person Trips Study of Karachi City (JICA, 2005), Karachi Mass Transit Program (2012), Karachi transport improvement project (KITP - 2009) and further estimates are derived from those basic figures.
