The federal government
will bear Rs163 million operational deficit of Green Line BRTS, Karachi, for
three years. Federal government's Sindh Infrastructure Development Company
Limited (SIDCL) will manage the operation of Green Line, Karachi, for three
years and then it would transfer the operation to Sindh government, official
documents available with the Business Recorder revealed.
Documents indicted
that operation deficit or subsidy for the project has been estimated at Rs163
million for three years. Federal government recently approved
operationalization of Green Line BRTS and Installation of Integrated
Intelligent Transport System Equipment at the cost of Rs10.956 billion.
Federal government
will contribute Rs5.639 billion to the project under its commitment in the
Karachi Package and the rest of the financing would be arranged from foreign
resources.
The modified PC-1 of
the project envisages procurement of two major components i.e buses and
Integrated Intelligent Transport System (IITS). The buses include fleet of 80
Articulated Diesel hybrid (regenerating) air-conditioned buses. Capacity of
each bus is more than 150 passengers (seating + standing). The carrying
capacity of the bus fleet is 300,000 passengers per day. Service life of buses
is ten years.
Integrated Intelligent
Transport System (IITS) includes automatic fare collection system, fleet
management/automatic vehicle management system, Central Operation Command and
Control Center, Real time Passenger information system, Communication
Network/Digital Transmission System, Business Intelligent & Analysis
Software (BIAS), Security & Surveillance System.
Also, Bus Depot Management
System (BDMS) and Energy Management System (EMS) are part of IITS. The urban
transport system (UTS) of Karachi is not yet organized and barely caters to the
mobility needs of citizens of this mega city.
Around 10,000 large
and mini buses run through the city, representing five percent of all vehicles
but carrying more than 40% of all passenger trips.
With limited
infrastructure and low level of public transport services coupled with other
factors such as weak traffic management, lack of modern mass transit networks
and a rapid level of motorization has resulted in severe traffic congestion,
very long delays and noise & air pollution adversely affecting city's
economic growth and efficiency.
To provide reliable,
safe, affordable and fast urban transport service and improve the quality of
life of commuters including the social & economic indicators of Karachi,
the implementation of the projects will contribute to developing sustainable
UTS in Karachi through the delivery of bus rapid transit (BRT) corridors,
focusing on accessibility and people's mobility resulting in saving in travel
times and costs.
Tags:
Transport