The World's Worst Public Transport System Attempts to Modernize

[marmar]

The World's Worst Public Transport System Attempts to Modernize
Incomplete roads in Karachi — the biggest city in Pakistan and the third-largest in the world — show what happens when a megacity becomes a political orphan.

By Faseeh Mangi
November 2, 2020, 12:07 AM EST


(Bloomberg CityLab) Muhammad Ali Jinnah Road has always had its share of traffic, but lately the main thoroughfare that connects central Karachi to its major port is in a state of near constant gridlock.

An elevated street eats up two of the road’s three lanes, but it’s empty — part of an incomplete project to create express lanes for public buses that was supposed to finish three years ago. It’s one of many towering structures scattered throughout the Pakistani city that were part of the latest plans to bring a modern transportation to Karachi, one of the world’s fastest-growing cities and the third-biggest by population.

Karachi ranks as having the worst public transport system globally, according to a 2019 study by car-parts company Mister Auto that looked at 100 major cities. It serves about 42% of Karachi’s commuters, relying on decades-old, overcrowded buses that use the roof as a second deck for passengers at times. Roads are filled with potholes, not all traffic signals are automated, and it’s common to see drivers running red lights. And yet the former capital is home to Pakistan’s main ports and the regional headquarters for companies such as Standard Chartered Plc and Unilever Plc, helping it generate half of the nation’s tax revenue.

Those funds, however, get distributed to other parts of the country. The city’s outgoing mayor Waseem Akhtar said last year he had only 12% administrative control of the city and a lack of funds. The army controls the wealthier areas of Karachi, while the rest is divided among the provincial and federal governments that don’t get along. ............(more)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-11-02/pakistan-s-megacity-tries-to-modernize?srnd=premium

[keithbvadu2]

1. I remember Karachi. 1985. Four lanes of traffic on a two-lane road.