Green Line BRT wins Karachi’s heart

Passengers say they prefer standing in the new bus over being seated in the old and rusty wagons

KARACHI:

The Green Line BRT, which is the city’s first mass transit system, has been greeting hordes of citizens following inauguration earlier this month.

Owing to the overwhelming rush of commuters, many excited about boarding the shiny, new bus service must wait in long queues on weekends as well as weekdays, before fetching a ticket.

The passengers maintain that the federal government should also consider starting a shuttle bus service leading to Tower and improve its fare system. “This will not only make the BRT service more successful but also make it easier for passengers to travel,” opined one commuter.

The federal government completed Phase I of Green Line BRT in Karachi on December 25th last year, and made it operational from Surjani Town to Namaish Chowrangi. Initially, the bus was run from 8 am to 12 noon, but operations were later extended from 7 am to 10 pm, after which the service has seen an exponential growth in traffic.

According to Green Line Senior Manager Abdul Aziz, a single bus can accommodate a total of 240 commuters, with seating space for 140 of them.

Talking about the service’s popularity with the public, he said that queues of passengers begin lining up to board the bus as early as 8:00 am, but the service sees its greatest inflow of passengers during office hours. “So far, the number of passengers on the week days has been around 30,000 to 40,000, but on weekends the number tends to jump to 50,000,’ he informed.

The long queues or lack or tight space on the bus has however done little to deter the Green Line’s passengers, who indicate a clear preference for the modern bus service as opposed to traditional public buses.

One BRT passenger Muhammad Ahmed, while talking to The Express Tribune, said that he had come to Namaish Chowrangi from Tower in Khan Coach, a traditional public bus, but is now headed to North Karachi in Green Line. “The BRT system is more convenient than the traditional buses, in addition to being cheaper and more comfortable. Even if one has to stand throughout the journey, it’s still more comfortable than sitting in a Khan Coach,” he opined.

Similarly, Muhammad Ali, another passenger who had ditched his own car to test out the new buss service, said that Green Line is a gift to the city and must be protected and regularly maintained, if it is to continue running,” he told.

Where public response to Green Line has largely been in favour of the bus service, some commuters seemed a little displeased about the price disparity in paper and card tickets. “There is a minimum fare of Rs15 and Maximum of Rs55, while fare climbs by Rs five for every successive station. This is understandable but bus management is charging a uniform tariff of Rs55 for paper tickets while those who bought cards can buy tickets based on the number of bus stops they were travelling,” complained M Abbas, an elderly passenger on the bus.

Speaking in response to Abbas’ claims, Green Line Senior Manager Abdul Aziz maintained that the bus service is operating under the state-of-the-art Intelligence Transport System (ITS). “There is a chance of cheating by the conductors or ticket bookers if tariff for paper tickets is not uniform. We cannot possibly monitor every passenger with a paper ticket and the passenger on one ticket can easily go to the next station without paying the necessary fare, which will cause financial loss to the bus service. This does not happen on the card system, the plastic card is connected to the ITS machines installed at at the entry and exit gate,” he told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th, 2022.