CDGK Plans to Introduce 500 CNG Buses

KARACHI: The City District Government Karachi (CDGK) has initiated a project to introduce CNG buses by July. The Karachi Mass Transit Cell (KMTC) has called local and foreign firms to be a part of the effort, Daily Times learnt on Sunday.

The CNG bus project is backed by the federal government and gives a high mark-up to investors, after a total investment of Rs 4 billion.City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal, during the last two years, promised numerous times that 5,000 CNG buses will be introduced to Karachi roads, but due to a lack of interest from the private sector, the project never took off. A number of terrorism-related incidents in the city last year disrupted law and order and dented investor confidence. But now the project has picked up and aims to introduce environment-friendly public transport. The number of buses has gone down from 5,000 to 2,500.

In its initial phase, to start from July, the city government aims to import the first fleet of 500 CNG buses, while the remaining 2,000 will be introduced in the next five years. The Mass Transit Cell has identified 40 routes where the first consignment of 500 CNG buses would operate. The routes, which have been given to separate parties, are being called the “green routes.” They cover the whole city, from Gulshan-e-Maymar at Super Highway to Hawkesbay Scheme on Hub River Road in Gadap Town, Officials in the city government said that invitation from private firms, local or foreign, with experience in the supplying/manufacturing and operating industry will be finalized by the end of June and signed in the first week of July.

The KMTC has also prepared a preliminary report on the current condition of the city’s transport system, mentioning that the city of 16 million people and 1.7 million registered vehicles. “About 90 percent of the workforce uses different modes of public transport, which includes 12,000 vehicles on 254 routes with a considerable overlap,” said the report.

The report also mentioned that most of the buses consist of an ageing fleet in which only 17 percent of the vehicles (3,118) are less than four years old, while 41.7 percent (7,652) are between 5 to 15 years old, 22.5 percent (4,129) between 15 to 24 years old, 18.6 percent (3,417) between 25 to 45 years old and 0.2 percent (34) are between 45 to 65 years old. All these buses contribute considerably to air pollution as well.