Citizen-traffic police

Karachi’s recent traffic reforms deserve appreciation. For the first time in years, we are seeing genuine order on the roads. People are stopping at red lights and driving more responsibly. This is a welcome and long-awaited change. However, the current conversation about installing additional expensive equipment – traffic cameras, mobile vans, automated robots and new monitoring stations – risks locking us into a heavy, old-fashioned, 20th-century model of policing. These systems are costly to deploy and even more costly to maintain, especially in a city already struggling with fiscal pressures and infrastructure decay.

Instead, Karachi could adopt a smarter, people-centred model. For example, citizens could submit photo or video evidence of violations and receive a small share of the fine. This practice has been adopted in other Asian countries, as far as I know. This approach is cheaper, creates micro-earning opportunities for unemployed youth and strengthens public ownership of road discipline.

Hasan Raza

Karachi