KARACHI: As many as 240 modern buses will be plying on the roads of metropolis with an aim to ensure provision of the best transport facilities to Karachiites. These buses will be operational by June 2022.
Out of the total 240 buses, 49 buses have arrived at the port while 71 buses will reach the port within a week while the remaining 130 more will reach by the start of June 2022.
The Transport Department of the Sindh government remained dysfunctional with no mega project for the Karachiites however after Sharjeel Inam Memon was made Sindh Minister for Transport and Mass Transport city’s transport sector received extraordinary attention, insiders told Sindhnews.
The Karachi Transportation Improvement Project (KTIP) was conducted from April 2010 to June 2012 by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in collaboration with the Sindh Mass Transport Authority (formerly Karachi Mass Transit Cell) and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (formerly City District Government Karachi).
Under this project, a ‘Karachi Transportation Improvement Plan 2030’ was formulated which included formation of Sindh Mass Transit Authority (SMTA), the revival of Karachi Circular Railway, two Mass Rapid Transit lines i.e. Blue and Brown and six Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines – Yellow, Green, Orange, Red, Purple and Aqua – .
According to official, these 20 diesel hybrid buses will ply on a 3.88-kilometer corridor from TMA Office (Orangi Town) to Jinnah University of Women, Nazimabad with four bus stations and a bus depot. The cost of the project is Rs 4.290 billion.
The civil works are almost completed while some electrical work is underway and the officials have been instructed to make it operational within a month.
Furthermore, another project namely – Sindh Intra District People’s Bus Service Project – is in final stage. This is an integrated bus operations model as a solution to cater to the public transport demand in various cities in the province of Sindh. i.e. Karachi, Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpuskhas & Shaheed BenazirAbad (SBA).
The project will create more than 3000 jobs, fixed assets in the form of Buses & Depots and generate revenue in terms of service tax. The Transport and Mass Transit Department of the Sindh government has signed an agreement with the National Radio Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) on October 27, 2021.
The cost of the project is 38.5 million USD. Under the plan, 240 buses will operate in Karachi on seven routes while ten buses in Larkana district. At least 50 buses to be operated on 2 routes with 25 buses each with operation of 1 depot. The remaining 201 buses and 5 depots are to be operated on assigned routes.