arachi’s roads, once a symbol of progress and prosperity, have succumbed to chaos. The road infrastructure of the city, home to 6.5 million registered vehicles, is buckling under the weight of unrelenting traffic. There are frequent catastrophic collisions, devastating crashes and gridlocks.

There have been nearly 600 serious accidents in January-September 2024, leaving more than 350 people dead and 650 injured.

In 2023 Karachi had 6.5 million registered vehicles. Lahore, which had 6.6 million vehicles, has 11 major exits; Karachi has three. These are the National Highway to Thatta and beyond, the Super Highway to Hyderabad and other upcountry destinations and the Hub River Road/ Northern Bypass to Balochistan.

The biggest cause of road accidents globally is a large vehicular volume. Karachi’s traffic mix includes cars, motorcycles, bicycles, animal-drawn carts, trucks and buses. One way of improving the traffic is to prevent various categories of motorised vehicles from plying on the same roads. However, implementing such a solution can be a big challenge.

Karachi’s downtown is no longer centrally located. Over the years, population growth and consequent unplanned urbanisation have shifted the centre of gravity to the north. The busiest businesses and the two ports (Karachi Port and China Port) are located in the South and City districts. These employ a huge workforce and thereby generate a large traffic volume. The third port, Bin Qasim, is located in the east, away from the dense population.

A huge traffic volume passes through three major arteries: Shara-i-Faisal, University Road and Shahrah-i-Pakistan. Now that the University Road is undergoing BRT development, nearly 60 percent of the traffic plies on Shara-i-Faisal. A study in 2021 had found that 70,000 vehicles used this road in 24 hours. The latest estimate is 200,000.

Traffic magnets

Five mega industrial zones lie scattered in various directions. These are North Karachi Industrial Area in district North; the Bin Qasim, Landhi and Korangi industrial zones in the East; and the SITE industrial zone in the West. “The Korangi Industrial Area is the largest industrial estate. It has the heaviest transport density. The terrible traffic here is dangerously chaotic,” says DIG Ahmed Nawaz Cheema, the chief of traffic police.

210,000 vehicles enter and exit the Karachi Port every month, says DIG Cheema. This traffic meanders through one of the city’s largest slums before it heads for upcountry destinations via Sher Shah and Baldia. Some of it forks into the RCD Highway for Balochistan and Northern Bypass for destinations in the Punjab, Sindh, Gilgit Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa. As trade grows day the day the number of vehicles will grow apace, he says.

A proposal to simplify the traffic mix – accepted and being enforced under court orders - has been to force the heavy vehicles to ply at night i.e. from 11pm to 6am. Motorcycles dominate the vehicle numbers (constituting 64 all registered vehicle). Cars, buses and trucks make up nearly 35pc.

Motorcyclists are also the most frequent (64 percent) victims of fatal road accidents. Pedestrians (25 percent) come second.

The high motorcycle density can be attributed to the fact that till about two years ago there was no public transport in the city. Only recently have the provincial and federal governments started operating Bus Rapid Ttransit and Green Buses; the Pink Bus for ladies; and the Peoples Bus Service Orange Line, Red Line and Yellow Line. The white EV bus service is for relatively short routes.

While this has been a positive change, the number of public transport buses (around 250) is way short of the requirements (around 2,000).

The introduction of public transport buses has already resulted in bringing down the frequency of traffic accidents. While 55 people still lost their lives in 50 fatal accidents in district Central, this year, the DIG says, the improvement has been great. “The number of casualties is still unacceptably high. However, the reduction is a silver lining,” he says.

Motorcycles outnumber all other vehicles on the roads. No wonder motorcyclists are the victims of 64 percent of all fatal road accidents. 

In the first nine months of 2024, approximately 600 serious accidents were reported. 350 people lost their lives and 650 were injured in the accidents, police say. “Most of the motorcycle-related fatalities were reported from the Malir, West and Korangi districts,” says DIG Cheema. According to police record, over 100 serious accidents were reported in district West. These claimed the lives of 120 people. With 60 accidents, killing 65 Malir was place second; with 25 fatal accidents that claimed 30 lives, district East was the third worst.

The district West houses the exit towards Balochistan through the Mauripur Road. A large number of trucks and trailers carrying cargo from the Karachi Port use the Hub River Road for travelling to Balochistan and Northern Bypass for up-country d destinations. Many industrial units are also located in the district.

The DIG says “Most accidents involving motorcyclists occur when they make abrupt moves and change lanes. When changing lanes to avoid the buses, motorcyclists become vulnerable to hits by speeding vehicles approaching them from behind.”

The risk for motorcyclists is compounded because of substandard helmets and the absence of side mirrors that can help them view the traffic behind them. DIG Cheema says he has approached motorbike manufacturers with a suggestion to modify the design of the side mirrors so that these cannot be removed. However, he says the manufacturers have expressed their inability to make such a modification without approval from their principals in Japan.

The News on Sunday has found that a bill related to the standardisation of helmet safety features has awaited enactment for several years.

Most of the roads in Karachi, traffic engineers say, are designed to cater to four wheelers and not motorbikes. There are very few dedicated bike lanes to separate them from the rest of the traffic. They say roads designed for motorcycles need to have smooth, even surfaces that reduce vibration and improve traction. The camber and gradient too should facilitate stable cornering. Such roads also feature high-friction surfaces with textured asphalt or concrete that improves traction and promotes safety against skidding.

Since around 2000, motorcycles and rickshaws have proliferated in the city. They now dominate the traffic landscape. There are 4.2 million registered motorcycles and 2 million four-wheelers. This bizarre development followed the disappearance of public buses and minibuses from the city following the disturbances of the ‘90s.

Too close

The mixing of various types of traffic is dangerous. Currently, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, cars, buses and trucks vie for the same space on crumbling asphalt, leading to catastrophic collisions and heart-wrenching tragedies. The varying manoeuvrability of different vehicles also poses significant risks. Being more agile, motorcyclists may weave in and out of lanes. However, this increases the risk of collisions with other vehicles. Larger vehicles also require more distance to stop. This disparity can lead to rear-end collisions and other accidents, particularly when drivers are forced to brake suddenly.

Policy remedies

Major cities across the world have managed traffic growth, reduced congestion and improved road safety by limiting the number of new vehicle registrations. Dhaka has enforced a vehicle quota system that restricts new registrations to 10,000 per month. Similarly, Kenya has enforced a 30 vehicles limit for 1,000 people. Ghana has done the same with 40 vehicles per 1,000 people. Indonesia has 50 vehicles per 1,000 people. In the developed world on the other hand, the US has 812 vehicles per 1,000 people, Japan 591 vehicles per 1,000 people and Germany 534 vehicles per 1,000 people.

Road taxes and emission-based taxes have been found to be helpful. High parking fees also discourage long-term parking and use of personal vehicles. Similarly, ‘congestion pricing’ charges drivers entering certain areas or using specific roads during peak hours. Manila charges drivers PHP 20-50 ($ 0.40-1.00) to enter congested areas. Colombo, Sri Lanka, charges drivers LKR 50-100 ($0.25-0.50). This has kept road congestion at bay and cut down massively on fuel consumption.

Analysts say Karachi needs to reduce congestion and the quantum of road transport through access control to limit entry points for heavy vehicles. However public acceptance, infrastructure costs and equity concerns are major challenges. The public will likely be comfortable with a large and efficient fleet of buses.

Solutions to Karachi’s road safety crisis exist. Will the city leaders take bold decisions? The time is running out.

The writer is a senior staffer at The News