Karachi / ISLAMABAD: The largest city in Pakistan is facing a critical shortage of passenger buses, with only slightly more than 1,000 buses currently in operation in the port city.
During a briefing to Caretaker Finance, Planning, and Development Minister Muhammad Younus Dagha on Karachi’s transport issues, officials from the Sindh government’s transport department made a startling revelation.
According to the report presented to the interim transport minister, Karachi’s comprehensive transport system requires a total of 15,000 buses.
Presently, only 1,029 buses are in operation on the city’s roads, including 240 buses from the People’s Bus Service, 100 buses from the BRT, and 689 older buses operated by the private sector. Additionally, there is ongoing work to assess the feasibility of procuring 500 more buses for the province.
According to the reports, there is a need of approximately 13,000 more public transport buses in Karachi to bridge the gap.
During the briefing, Caretaker Provincial Minister Mohammad Younus Dagha directed authorities to promote private sector involvement through public-private partnership projects to address the significant shortfall in public transport for Karachi.
Furthermore, the transport department informed the caretaker minister that they were considering a plan to provide easy loans to local private transporters through the establishment of an endowment fund.
The briefing also revealed that there was a proposal under consideration to offer soft loans to local transporters after they purchase buses. These buses would be registered in the name of the Sindh government until the transporters complete the full loan installments.
