BC Long Report

8/7/2019 BC Long Report

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Metropolitan Transit System for Rawalpindi/Islamabad

Prepared for

Madam Sarah Warris

General Public

CDA and RDA

Prepared By

The Pioneer

Afzal Ahmed

Muhammad Saeed

Muhammad Muzaffar Khan

Waqas Mehmood Khan

Shabir Ahmed

Muhammad Mazhar

Muhammad Tanvir

Rana Muhammad Sufyan

Comsats Institute of Information Technology

December 03, 2008


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the name of ALLAH the most gracious and the most merciful who created the whole universe andwho taught the humans what they did not know.

We are extremely thankful to ALLAH who gave us courage and ability to complete this project. It

was a difficult task for us to get the required information but by the grace of ALLAH we havecompleted it successfully.

At the successful completion of our project we would like to extend our gratitude to all those withouttheir valuable guidance and support it would have not been possible.

With all sincerity and respect, we would like to express our gratitude to Madam Sarah Warris for

giving an opportunity to have corporate exposure and learning

We are thankful to transporters, authorities and general public who helped us in carry out our

project.


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DEDICATION

Dedicate to our parents and family who are most precious in our life and whose interest,

encouragement and well wishing will bring successful results for us in every field of life.

Also dedicate to our lecturer Madam Sarah Warris whose guidance and encouragement help us to

complete this project successfully.


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SUMMARY

MTS (Metropolitan Transit System) is a global practiced transport system, almost in every advanced

country. This system provides fast, convenient and good transport facilities in big cities.This project seeks that whether this system fulfill the transport requirements of

Rawalpindi/Islamabad and how this system can be applied.

The objectives of the study include determining the difficulties faced by the public from the currenttransport system. And the progress of current MTS (i-e VARAN)

A questionnaire was designed and survey was conducted with the target population as the general

public, students and employees use to travel in public transport.


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Abstract

Improving accessibility to employment, education, health, and transport is necessa

improving the welfare of general pubic. Although the rate of private transport is increasing

in developing countries, the bulk of low income population in the developing world does nothave the means to afford private transport. These urban people rely on public transit for

traveling. Thus, public transit plays a critical role in sustaining and improving the welfare of

general public by providing mobility to millions.

The past few decades have witnessed a continuous disinvestment in public

governments in Pakistan. When the government funded mass transit disappeared f

streets, the private sector stepped in to provide transit service, which left much to be desired interms

of efficient provision of quality service and safety.


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Recently, provincial government of Punjab have embarked on bus-fra

which offer exclusive service rights to operators on dedicated routes. The transit oper

return, guarantee a certain level of service. In Punjab, for example, bus-franchising scheme hasdelivered hundreds of new buses now plying on intra-city routes.

Introduction

The 1990s have witnessed an increase in poverty levels in Pakistan. Low-income h

have experienced significant decline in their purchasing power. Most low- income households relyon public transit for traveling. In most instances, public transit is the

means to access employment, education and health.

The rapid pace of urbanization in Pakistan has resulted in a significant incr

urban population at a time when resources have become increasingly scarce. While leave their rural abodes for cities in search of employment opportunities, the physical infrastructure

of cities in Pakistan is fast becoming incapable of meeting the demand for urb

Thus, water and housing shortages, and inadequate public transport services are common in mostPakistani cities. Same is the case with Rawalpindi and Islamabad.


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Background of Topic of study

Twin city of Islamabad and Rawalpindi are growing at a rate of more than 4 percent per annum due

in migration. Present population of Islamabad alone is 1.2 million. Currently accommodate a population of over 2.78 million. With present growth trends it is expected to

increase to 7 million in twenty five years time. Vehicle population has exceeded 375,000 with

annual increase of 5 percent per annum over the last one decade, Currently private transport is themajor means of mobility between two cities whereas 1600 small and minibuses comprising of

Mazda, Toyota Hiace and Suzuki vans are plying on 16 routes within and between two cities.

A traffic volume between twin city is of over 210,000 vehicles carrying around 525,000 passengers.

It is estimated that public transport demand of around 158,000 passengers is available on daily basis

between the two cities.

Different passenger coaches (Hiaces) plying on Sadar, Pak Secretariat, Peshawar Mor, Chung #22,

Karachi Company, Faisal Mosque, Kachehry (Swan), Adyala Road, Golra Sharif, Barii Imam and

Pirwadhai routes of the twin city but they cannot cope with the heavy rush.

In order to meet the traffic needs of this growing population no significant effort was made by thegovernment. Only a single bus service was start in 1997 named as "Varan". The start of Varan bus

service was a good idea and it had helped overcome the transport problem to great extent but the

local transporters termed it a growing threat to their business and resisted its expansion after whichthe service was terminated in February,2005. Though Varan has again started its service in

Rawalpindi but due to shortage of buses it has not expanded it to other routes of the twin city.


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Transport Problems

Currently Used Public Transport

Reflection of Problems

Following are the different problems faced by the public of Rawalpindi/Islamabad:

No Proper Schedule

Current public transit does not follow proper schedule. Regular service is not effectively provided

during the peak period. Opening and closing time of service is not properly mentioned.

Transporters are not Adhere to the published fares

Transit operators do not adhere to the published fares by the concerned authorities. This occurs

more during holidays, when most drivers leave for their native towns, resulting in a reducedtransit supply. The remaining transporter charge more then published.

Not come on stands

During rush periods, transit vehicles do not stop on the stands to allow passengThis practice has severe safety implications and results as some accidents.

Irregular stops

Transit vehicles make irregular stops to pick up or drop passengers. This often contributes tocongestion. The private transport is also affected by this practice.

Over-crowding

Over-crowding is a common practice during rush period, passengers travel by hanging from the

exterior of transit vehicles and sometimes riding on the roof. Although the fares are charge equally


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but proper facility of transport is not provide.

Incomplete entire routes

Drivers do not operate over the entire route and abandon passengers at sto

ship runs thin. They refuse to travel further and the passengers face a lot of problems.

Operate only when vehicles are filled

Transit vehicles operate only when they are filled. Otherwise, they remain parked at the stop,which results in congestion and great inconvenience to passengers.

Poor maintenance

Transit vehicles are not properly maintained due to cut-throat competition and

margins. Transporters pay no attention on the condition of their vehicles. Often such vehiclesare involved in accidents.

Over Speeding

Over Speeding and risky driving, resulting from transit vehicles competing for passengers, causes

accidents. Unskilled drivers are common in twin city transport.

Misbehave by transporters

Drivers and conductors are mostly uneducated and ill-mannered. They do not give respectpassengers.

No arrangement for Disabled and Senior citizens

There are no proper arrangements for the disabled and senior citizens. In some times transporters

don't even pick them up.

No separate seats allocated for Female passengers

In the current transport system no separate seats are allocated for the ladies. Some transpoallocate front seat for ladies but most of transporters do not practice it.

What is MTS?Mass transit refers to an inter-city or regional public shared transportation system, such as buses,

mini buses and bullet trains. It is an organized system of local transportation mostly used in largecities.

Benefits of MTS Mass transit systems offer considerable savings in labor, materials, and energy over private

transit systems.

MTS provide timely services as it operate according to time schedule.

Special services are provided to Disabled and senior citizens.

These systems strictly follow the published fares from the concerned authorities.

MTS transport only stop on the pre-described stands.

MTS completed the whole route properly.

Fewer operators are required per passenger transported they can be better trained and morestrictly licensed and supervised.

This type of transport is more safety and security.

Good, educated and well-mannered staff is appointed for the jobs in these systems.

MTS carry a far higher passenger load per unit of weight and volume than do private

vehicles.

Separate portion are allocated for male and female passengers for the convenience.


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History of MTS

The history of mass transportation is connected to industrialization, urbanization, and the separationof residence from workplace. Industrialization results urbanization and urbanization need more and

more transport facilities for traveling. Mass transit has evolved from conventional railways that weredeveloped in the late 18th century, with the first underground conventional system opened in 1804.The first mass transit system opened was in London in 1863, then Boston installed (1898) the firstsystem in the United States; others followed in Paris (1900), Berlin (1902), New York (1904),Madrid (1919), Tokyo (1927), and Moscow (1935). Toronto's system, completed in 1954, was the

first in Canada.. By the beginning of the 21st century there were 95 large systems in 59 countries. In

the last decade's growth of new systems has moved largely to Southeast Asia as in Malaysia and

India.


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Countries having successful MTSArgentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark,

France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand,Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and

the United Kingdom, as well as the United States..

MTS Buses in other cities of Punjab & Punjab's Franchising SchemeIn last decade Punjab government have taken many steps to promote MTS in different cities of Punjab,

for this purpose Punjab's franchising scheme was introduced. Following are the salient feature ofPunjabs franchising scheme:

Franchise of a route is awarded through a transparent and competitive bid

Franchise period is 10 years.

Franchise affords exclusivity of operations on the franchised route, provided the franchisee

is able to cater to the entire load of passengers; Fares are flexible.

A subsidy of 4% and 8% is offered on the mark-up of loans oboperator for the purchase of buses.

Bids are advertised in the press. A bids evaluation committee, made up of senior bureaucrats from

the province, evaluates all bids, with special attention to the financial stability of the biddingoperator. The recommended bids are sent to the provincial chief minister for approval, who issues

the franchise for an initial 10-year period.


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The governments role in franchising is not merely restricted to awarding franchises or regulating

fare. In Punjab, franchise operators can also lease land, terminals, and depots previously used bythe state-owned Punjab Road Transport Corporation. The government also offers lower intere

rates for loans to import buses, along with exemption from import duties. Bot

local franchise operators can bid for franchises. The minimum fleet requirement for large cities is40 new buses; for small cities, 20 new buses. The government also offers protection to direct

foreign investment.

Table 1: MTS in Punjab

Cit O erator No. of VehiclesLahore

M/S New Khan Metro Bus 255M/S Dawoo Cit Bus 70M/S PremierBus Services 81M/S Baloch Bus Services 24M/SChatta Bus Services 40M/S Monolite Bus Services 40

Total 510Multan

M/S New Khan Metro 81Faisalabad

M/S Minthar Metro Bus 40M/S BashirSons 40Faisalabad Total 80

Rawalpindi

IslamabadM/S Varan Tours 15

This Scheme in Rawalpindi/Islamabad

Under this scheme Varan Tours starts in 1997 and added 115 buses to the transit fleet in twin city. The mid-

income working class has welcomed courteous and efficient transit Similarly, mid-income senior citizens, who need assistance also benefited from franchised transit. But the

service was too limited in twin city as compare to other cities of Punjab. Table 1 shows the comparison of service

between different cities of Punjab.

In February, 2005 this service was closed due to the public anger on fatal accidents. Now this serviceis again started in November, 2008 but on very limited scale of just 15 buses.

This shows that the transportation problems of twin city are not solved by this scheme.

Our Survey Outcome

We have conducted a survey, by filling out questionnaire from students, employees and general

public who travel in public transport of Rawalpindi/Islamabad.

Satisfied by the current Transport System


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Yes No Up-to Some extent

13 26 11

26%

52%

22%

Yes

No

Up-to Some

extent

Fulfill the requirements of public

Yes No

14 36

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Yes No

Yes

No

Easy Availability at any time

Yes No

16 34


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0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Yes No

Yes

No

Authorities Regulating Transport are working Properly

Yes No

08 42

0

10

20

30

40

50

Yes No

Yes

No

Behavior of transporter with public

Very Good Normal Not Good Worse

0 32 13 5

0

32

13

5

0 10 20 30 40

Very Good

Normal

Not Good

Worse

Reach on destination at proper time

Out 10 Times

10 7-9 times 4-6 Less than 4

07 15 20 08


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10

14%

7-9Times

30%4-6 Times

40%

Less than

4

16%

Environment in public transport

Very Good Normal Not Good Worse

01 24 25 0

Ver y Good

Normal

Not Good

Worse

Obey traffic rules

Yes No

21 29


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0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Yes No

Yes

No

Facilities for Disabled and senior citizens

Very Good Normal Not Good Worse02 17 19 12

Very Good

Normal

Not Good

Worse

Route Maps

Good & According to need of

passengers

Sufficient Should be resigned

04 26 20


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4

26

20

Good & According

to need of

passengers

Sufficient

Should beresigned

Proper Completion

Yes No

20 30

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Yes No

Reasonable Fare System

Yes No08 42

16%

84%

Yes

No

Varan is sufficient for future requirements

Yes No

22 28


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22

28

0 10 20 30

Yes

No

Satisfactory progress of Varan

Yes No

32 18

Yes

No

Avenues, overheads, underpasses and express ways are the best Solution

Yes No

39 11

Yes

78%

No

22%

Suitable Mode of Transportation

Train Buses Mini buses/Hiace's

9 15 26


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18%

30%

52%

Train

Buses

Mini

buses/Hiace's

Fare Concession for students

Yes No

40 10

40

10

0 20 40 60

Yes

No

Implemented and control of system

Government Semi-government private

12 17 21

0 5 10 15 20 25

Government

Semi-

government

private

private

Semi-government

Government


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VARAN

"Varan" is the only MTS bus service implemented in twin city in 1997 by that time chief minister of

Punjab Shehbaz Sharif. The start of Varan bus service was a good idea and it had helped overcomethe transport problem to great extent. Passengers of twin city fell some satisfaction relating to their

transport problem. The local transporters termed it a growing threat to their business and resisted its

expansion after which the service was terminated in February,2005 after public anger at fatalaccidents and litigation by private transporters. Varan buses return to the roads of Rawalpindi and

Islamabad on November 2008, some 40 months Though Varan has again started its service in

Rawalpindi but due to shortage of buses it has not expanded it to other routes of the twin city. Asthe bus company would ply its large-capacity vehicles first on five major routes in the twin cities and

on all routes at a later stage.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif inaugurating the service again.

Ms Uzma Gul, chairperson of Varan, alleged on the occasion that former railway minister Sheikh

Rashid Ahmed forced Varans hands to close its service.

Varan appears to a good service for the public of twin city as

providing separate seats for special persons, one-third of the seats in the new buses would be

reserved for women passengers. Varan buses would stop at each bus stop for one minute and the

staff has instructions to be polite to the passengers.

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif lauded the services of Varan Tours in the past saying that school and

college going students, ladies and office workers were benefiting from its services.

Elevated Expressway project

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is likely to perform groundbreaking of the Rs 10 billionElevated Expressway project on October 24, 2008. An RDA (Rawalpindi Development Authority)

official said all necessary arrangements had been made for the start of work on the three-year project,

which was aimed at reducing traffic congestion on Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road, previously known

as Murree Road, between the Mall and Faizabad.

NESPAK (National Engineering Services of Pakistan) had prepared geometric design of the

Elevated Expressway and had done its topographic survey.

RDA had made elaborate arrangements for managing Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road traffic following

the start of work on the expressway.


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The proposed expressway will have six lanes and four interchanges for it will be constructed at

Mareer Chowk, Chandani Chowk, 6th Road and Shamsabad.

It is expected that once the expressway was opened to traffic, motorists would be able to cover a

distance of around 25 kilometers in less than 10 to 15 minutes between the Mall and Faizabad.

RDA had set 36 months time frame for construction of the expressway patch between Mareer

Chowk and Chandni Chowk and 46 months for the rest of the work.

Recommendations


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Not all transportation problems in Rawalpindi/Islamabad were caused by inefficient transit

systems. The imbalance, which is caused by concentration of government jobs in Islamabadand affordable housing in Rawalpindi, will continue to pose additional challenges. Along with

improving transit services, the government should also focus on eliminating the land use imbalance.This can be achieved by creating high-density, affordable housing in Islamabad conducive for transit operations and by strategically locating employ

Rawalpindi to eliminate the need for workers to commute long distances.

The largest employer in Rawalpindi is the Pakistan Armed Forces. In the next five years,

The General Headquarters and the related are scheduled to relocate in Islamabad. This move is

likely to exacerbate the land use imbalance in Rawalpindi/Islamabad.

The exemption from import duties for buses could also adversely impact the budding bus

manufacturing industry in Pakistan. According to the Pakistan AutomotiveManufacturers Association, the installed capacity for bus production in Pakistan is around

1900 buses per year. The government of Pakistan should adjust tariffs and duties t

up-and-coming manufacturing niche in the country.

Conclusions

Franchised urban transit has the capacity to improve mobility in Twin.Franchised troffer safe, courteous, reliable and efficient transit service that has not been

private transit operators in RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD in the past two decades. Franchised

transit comes at a high price to the end users. The high fares of franchised might reduce the

accessibility of low-income households in RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD. It is critical that theimpact of the fare hike on low-income households should be evaluated at the

The governmentshould subsidise low-income households to ensure equity. Similarly, the governmen

provide vocational training to those transit operators who have lost livelihoods b

franchised transit. Their transition into new careers should be preferred over assigning them non-

franchised routes, which will simply move poor transit service to a different jurisdiction.

There is an urgent need of capacity building in urban/transport planning i

Similarly, travel behaviour data do not exist for any metropolitan area in Pakistransportation planning requires data. Almost all investment decis

transport sector in Pakistan are based on crystal ball forecasting. This could only changeif regular travel behaviour surveys are instituted in metropolitan areas in Pakistan. Thisis to be accompanied by training of planners and engineers in transport planning.


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Name (optional):

Gender: .

Occupation: Student Employee Other

Part 1


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Q1: Are you satisfied by the current transport system implemented in

Rawalpindi/Islamabad?

Yes No Up to some extent

Q2: Does this system meet the current requirements of public?

Yes No

Q3: In your observation, public transport is easily available at any time?

Yes No

Q4: Authorities regulating the transport system are working properly?

Yes No

Q5: Behavior of the Transporters with the public in your opinion is?

Very good Normal Not Good Worse

Q6: By using the local transport 10 times, how many times you can reach your

destination on time?

10 Times 7-9 Times 4-6 Times Less than 4 Ti

Q7: Environment in the public transport?


Q8: In your opinion the current transporters obey the traffic rules?

Yes No

Q9: Facilities for disabled and senior citizens are?


Q10: What do think about Current routs maps?

Good and according to need of passengers Sufficientshould be re-designed

Q11: Current transporters complete their routs properly?

Yes No

Q12: Do you think that the fare system is reasonable and regulated properly?

Yes No


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Q13: Varan is sufficient for our future transport requirements?

Yes No

Q14: Are you satisfied by the progress of Varan?

Yes No

Q15: According to your observation, avenues, overheads, underpasses and express

ways are the best solution of all the problems?

Yes No

Part 2

If new Transportation system is introduced

Q16: In your opinion, what is the most suitable mode of transportation implemented

in Rawalpindi & Islamabad?

Trains Buses Mini-Buses/Hiace'sIf Other, Explain

Q17: Do you think that concession in the fare should be provided to the students?

Yes No

Q18: The nature of the system implemented and controlled?

Government Semi Government Private

Remarks:

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