Four lines to be introduced, 52,000 people to commute per hour
KARACHI: The speakers and experts were of the opinion that BRT (Bus Rapid Transport) would definitely be able to minimize the commuters’ woes in Sindh particularly Karachi as five lines would be run initially on various routes.
In a consultative session of PAKSTRAN – Pakistan Sustainable Transport Project undertaken by the UNDP held on Thursday, the Chairman National Project, PAKSTRAN, Dr Saleem Janjua said that PAKSTRAN project is an initiative of UNDP with government counterparts has 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 is incident that transport sector is changing rapidly therefore clear and defined vision for the urban areas is required that defines formulation associated reforms, achievable program and investment framework. He told the participants that we need to make our country a good place to do business, we need to make sustainable transport infrastructure. He further said, because of these all reasons this nationalimplemented project (NIM) has been launched in collaboration with Government of Pakistan and the provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab.
Speaking on the occasion the 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 LINE 4. BRT RED LINE. Yar Muhammad argued on the occasion that the growing city cannot wait mass transit system until the economic level of the city is high enough to introduce expensive system. To improve the public transport system in Karachi, BRT is the best system on the project corridors considering the cost-efficiency and available resources. The maximum capacity of a standard BRT is approximately 13,000 (52,000 in 4 lines) passengers per hour per direction. BRT makes reference to the transportation networking considering connection with other modes and possibility of transit from private car. He further said, our approach towards sustainability works around our activities as CIU Sindh has organized as many as fifty five 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 is 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 government of Pakistan. The objective of the project is to reduce energy consumption and related greenhouse gas emissions from Pakistan’s transport sector, while simultaneously improving urban environmental conditions and enhancing Pakistan’s competitiveness. PAKSTRAN is supported by Global Environment Facility (GEF) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is being implemented by Government of Pakistan.
Ali Sher Mirani, the Deputy Secretary Transport & Mass Transit Department said that 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.