[sustran] Karachi Mass Transit project: "no solution to commuters' problems"

Paul Barter tkpb at barter.pc.my
Tue Jul 21 11:00:15 JST 1998


Dear sustran-discussers,

This is from "Facts & Figures",  Vol. 6,   No. 6,  June 1998.  Facts and
Figures is compiled by  Muhammad Younus, Urban Resource Centre, 3/48
Mualimabad Housing Society off Khalid bin Walid Road Karachi-74800,
Pakistan.  Tel: 92 21- 4559275.  E-mail <urc at cyber.net.pk>.

There is plenty to discuss and debate in this and issues that are common to
other low-income cities around the world.  I hope the list can feed some
comments back to the Urban Resource Centre.  By the way, they have also
been actively fighting a major expressway in the Karachi, the Lyari
Expressway.

-----------------------
"The KMTP: no solution to commuters' problems; a URC report."

The mass-transit system currently being proposed for the city will not
solve any of the problems of Karachi's commuters or reduce traffic
congestion in any way as is being claimed , for the following reasons:

1. Karachi's transport network covers over 750 kilometres of circulation
arteries. What is being developed as Corridor-1 constitutes only 13 km as
Phase-1 and a bus service that feeds into it. This "drop in the ocean" is
going to cost the exchequer a phenomenal US $665 million. As in Manila,
Cairo, Mexico and Calcutta, the other proposed mass-transit corridors will
not be developed in the foreseeable future owing to a scarcity of funds. As
a result, conditions for over 95 per cent of Karachi's commuters (except
for those that can use Corridor-1) will become progressively worse than
what they are at present.

2. Due to an absence of other corridors, Corridor-1 will become extremely
congested leading to massive environmental degradation (as in the case of
Manila), particularly in the inner city, where the elevated transitway
passes through very narrow roads. Not only will this will cause further
traffic congestion, but it will irredeemably damage whatever is left of the
historically unique urban fabric.

3. Mass transit systems do not solve traffic problems, especially if they
are as miserably small as the proposed Corridor-1, Phase-1; if they did ,
then Manila, Cairo and Mexico would not be ranked amongst the most
traffic-congested cities in the world. Traffic problems are solved by
traffic engineering projects and by traffic management. It is imperative
that we understand this hard fact and refrain from making tall claims.

4. What is being quoted as the cost per trip for Corridor-1 is between Rs12
and Rs19. Unless the system is heavily subsidised by the government (as in
Manila and Calcutta) or it has a much higher coverage (which is not
possible due to financial constraints), the cost per trip will work out to
be much higher. The Kuala Lumpur cost per trip is US $1.4 or Rs 63.
According to reports, the Karachi light rail contractors have been allowed
to raise fares by 13 per cent annually. At this cost, how will this
facility remain affordable for the common Karachiite? Without using the
light rail, commuters would not be able to get to Corridor-1, as the light
rail contractor has a monopoly over 1/2 km on either side of the corridor.
With these travelling costs and the monopoly over transport, the entire
exercise is bound to lead to communal strife and tension.

If the government is really sincere in its efforts to provide the people of
Karachi with an effective mass transit system, then that system should
necessarily have a much larger range to justify the exorbitant cost of US
$665 million and should utilise the two major assets that Karachi possesses
and which few other cities do: one, the circular railway and mainline to
Pipri and two, very wide roads.

The US $665 million could be spent much more effectively as follows:
(Rates given below have been worked out from rules of thumb given in World
Bank technical papers, and are on the high side.)

1.US $250 million : Upgrading of 70.7 km of circular railway and mainline
linking major Karachi work areas (except Saddar) to residential areas.

2. US $215 million: Building an additional 17 km of railway at grade from
the circular railway into dense low-income suburbs (3.5 km into Orangi, 3.2
km into Baldia , 5 km into New Karachi , 525 km to complete the
Landhi-Drigh Colony loop). The extensions could be done over a ten-year
period through small projects, eventually linking up almost all of
Karachi's major work and residential areas with each other.

3. US $200 million: Developing 40 km of separated tramway at grade
separated transitways on major arteries within the circle of the circular
railway (Corridor-1 and 2 could be developed as such).

Thus, at the same, a ten times larger system could be installed instead.
The per trip and per capita operation and maintenance costs would lower
considerably through greater usage of the system. In an elevated light rail
system, the cost of the elevated structure alone is about two-thirds of the
total cost of the project. This accounts for the reason why all over the
world, transport engineers are actively discouraging it. Then why are we
being so foolhardy? If this miserable 13 km corridor is constructed at a
cost of US $665 million, it will be a major lost opportunity for providing
this great but unfortunate city with an effective and efficient mass
transit system. (URC report)




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