KARACHI (March 18 2008): A Japanese agency would launch 'scientific study' on Future Traffic Demand Forecast (FTDF) of Karachi to help the city planners establish an effective strategy and implementation plan of mass transportation for the metropolis.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) would start the survey within next few days as part of its technical assistance to the City District Government Karachi (CDGK), sources in Traffic & Communication Department of the CDGK told Business Recorder on Monday."A team of Jica experts is due in Pakistan on March 19 to conduct a scientific study on the city's future traffic demand," said Malik Zaheer-ul-Islam, director-general, Karachi Mass Transit Cell (KMTC).
It is worth mentioning here that according to a notification issued by the City Nazim on Monday that Malik Zaheer-ul-Islam is likely to take additional charge of the T&C Department as an executive district officer (EDO) within a day or so to look after affairs of the department.He said the Agency would start work from March 21 and would submit its report by the end of May or early June this year. The DG KMTC also clarified that Jica would conduct the study free of cost.
The Agency would estimate traffic of the metropolis, where the ever-present traffic problems like prolonged traffic jams, inefficient traffic police, illegal parkings, use of pressure horns, smoke emitting and unfit vehicles, entry of heavy vehicles in the city, etc have rendered roads of the city more vulnerable to fatal accidents on daily basis.According to sources, Jica would conduct estimation of the city's traffic by 'computer modeling' on the basis of "person trip study", which the Agency had conducted in 2005-06.They said the survey would also contribute to capacity development and CDGK's planning for regulating the transport sector.
To conduct a safe and proper study the Agency has sought "full and strong support" from the city district government in terms of expertise, coordination with traffic policy and necessary authority for fieldwork, sources said.By coordinating CDGK in the survey Jica was aiming to enable the former to learn how to conduct the study, sources said.
"Jica was putting technical transfer programme in the study for Pakistani side expecting that they (CDGK) can learn the series of work, including computer modeling through this study period and to conduct the same survey by themselves in future," added the sources.
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