Mass transit

Public transport in Pakistan has not received the due attention it deserves. Be it mass transit in major cities or travel from rural to urban areas and vice versa, the citizens of this country have been left to their own devices rather than the government taking it upon itself to arrange for affordable and reliable transportation. The governments in power, and the opposition at various times, have taken varying stances regarding this issue. Take for example the case of mass transit in major cities such as Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was once a major critic and opponent of mass transit projects that the PML-N government had launched. The PTI criticized metro bus projects by pointing out that these projects were expensive and needed subsidies. But once in power, the PTI not only initiated similar projects in Peshawar but started giving subsidies as well.

The PTI government has given a Rs2.8 billion subsidy for one of its most controversial projects – Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Peshawar. The subsidy in itself is a good decision, no doubt – though it does once again point to the persistent tendency in the PTI to take U-turns and first oppose any thing no matter how good it is, if any previous government initiated it. Then after some time the party ends up embracing the same or similar projects. Why criticise the metro projects in Lahore and Rawalpindi-Islamabad when it was to start the same in Peshawar.

The fact is that, be it any major city in the country, the condition of public transport is deplorable. Most people cannot afford expensive private transport, and it is the responsibility of the government to provide affordable transport facilities to people, even if it has to offer subsidies. Every day millions of common people use public transport. It is a well-known fact that mass transit systems around the world depend on subsidies. There should have been no controversy in the first place about the mass transit systems that the PML-N governments initiated and completed as they are eventually to the benefit of the people. Then there should be no eyebrows raised by the elite against subsidies for transport for all. Those who have private transport at their disposal round the clock have no right to object to such subsidies given to people belonging to the lowest economic strata. Providing affordable mass transit in all major cities across the country is the responsibility of the government and with an ever-increasing population, this problem is mounting. There is a need to stop playing politics with people’s access to mobility, and ensure that mass transit is a priority area.