KARACHI: Following its inauguration earlier this month, the Green Line BRT, the city’s first mass transit system, has been greeted by throngs of locals.
Due to the high volume of commuters, many people who are eager to ride the gleaming new bus service must wait in long lines on weekends and weekdays to get a ticket.
According to the passengers, the federal government should consider launching a shuttle bus service to Tower and improving its fare system. One traveller stated, “This will not only make the BRT service more successful, but it will also make it easier for people to travel.”
On December 25th of last year, the federal government completed Phase I of the Green Line BRT in Karachi, making it operational from Surjani Town to Namaish Chowrangi. The bus used to run from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., but it was later extended to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., following which the service’s popularity skyrocketed.
A single bus, according to Green Line Senior Manager Abdul Aziz, can carry a total of 240 people, with seating for 140 of them.
When asked about the service’s popularity with the general public, he noted that customers began waiting up to board the bus as early as 8:00 a.m., but that the service gets the most traffic during business hours. “The number of passengers has been around 30,000 to 40,000 on weekdays, but the number tends to surge to 50,000 on weekends,” he said.
Long lines or a shortage of space on the bus haven’t deterred Green Line passengers, who clearly prefer the modern bus service to older public buses.
Muhammad Ahmed, a BRT passenger, told local news media that he had travelled to Namaish Chowrangi from Tower on the Khan Coach, a typical public bus, but that he is now travelling to North Karachi on the Green Line. “The BRT system is more convenient, as well as cheaper and more comfortable, than ordinary buses. “It’s still more pleasant than sitting in a Khan Coach,” he commented, even if one has to stand the entire voyage.
Similarly, Muhammad Ali, another passenger who dumped his automobile to try out the new bus service, stated that the Green Line is a gift to the city that must be protected and maintained if it is to continue running.
While the public’s response to the Green Line has been overwhelmingly positive, some commuters have expressed dissatisfaction with the price difference between paper and credit tickets. “There is a minimum fare of Rs15 and a maximum fare of Rs55, with each station’s fare increasing by Rs five. This is understandable, but the bus company charges a flat rate of Rs55 for paper tickets, while those who purchased cards were allowed to purchase tickets based on the number of bus stops they visited,” M Abbas, an elderly bus commuter, complained.
Green Line Senior Manager Abdul Aziz responded to Abbas’ assertions by claiming that the bus service is administered under the state-of-the-art Intelligence Transport System (ITS). “If the pricing for paper tickets is not uniform, there is a risk of cheating by conductors or ticket bookers.” We couldn’t possible monitor every passenger with a paper ticket, and a person with one ticket can easily continue to the next station without paying the required fare, causing the bus service to lose money. “On the card system, this does not happen; the plastic card is connected to the ITS machines situated at the entry and exit gates,” he explained to the reporter.
