The inadequate transport system of Islamabad

If you are one of the many commuters in Islamabad, chances are you regularly find yourself stuffed into Hiace vans like chickens being taken to a slaughterhouse. Van drivers and conductors, in their bid to maximise revenue, sometimes fit in as many as 22 people in the 14-seater van.

Lahore has a number of bus-services operating throughout its routes, while Karachi and Peshawar have a plethora of mini-buses and wagons ploughing through their roads. In contrast, some 500 vans serve a population of about 1.7 million residents over 14 routes in Islamabad.

This makes the federal capital city, with its absence of a mass transit system, the worst of the four main cities of the country in terms of adequate transport facilities.

Low quality services has been an often-repeated complaint of commuters. But the monopoly enjoyed by van owners which often translates into ad hoc increase in fares is what perturbs citizens the most. The starkest indication of this came on March 19, when students began to riot as a result of a 20 per cent hike in van fares. Both policemen and protestors were injured and property damaged in the mayhem that ensued. When the government suspended the price-hike, the van-owners went on a three-day strike, leaving the people with no alternative but to settle for a compromise- the fares were still increased but not by as much.

People continue to travel in these vans due to a lack of alternatives. “They load us into the vehicles like cattle, but I have no choice. I cannot afford to hire a taxi everyday,” said Shahnawaz Khilji, a student.

Ustad Mehmoob Baksh, a Hiace driver, agreed that they had to overload their vans with passengers. “Yes we do that, but only at peak hours or when there is a shortage of vans,” he said.

During off-peak hours, the vans wait at their stops for long durations in the hope of getting more passengers. The already-seated passengers are inconvenienced during this period.

Muhammad Awan, general secretary of Transport Union Federation, said there was no shortage of vans in Islamabad.

“People drive their own cars or travel with their friends or colleagues, which is badly affecting the business of the van owners,” he added.

Women in Islamabad have it particularly hard. Amara Hussain, a beautician, said that the front two seats of a van are reserved for women. “But the van owners ignore a single woman standing at a bus stop as then they would have to sacrifice the two front seats to accommodate her,” she said.

Islamabad Traffic Police’s spokesperson, Waseem Arif, said the traffic-police fined van-owners every time they saw them breaking the rules, such as overloading and avoiding female passengers.

Islamabad Capital Territory’s spokesperson, Khalid Mehmood, said the authority was “planning” to introduce a new transport system for the city. New, modern buses will be introduced under this new system.

But this is not the first time such a promise has been made. Back in March, CDA Chairperson Imtiaz Inayat Elahi had said that they were going to announce the launch of a new mass transit system within 40-50 days. Three months later, CDA is yet to make that announcement.

Additional reporting by Rustam Satti

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2010.