Comparative analysis of public transport modes available in Karachi, Pakistan
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Comparative analysis of public transport modes available in Karachi, Pakistan Syed Muhammad Noman1 · Afzal Ahmed2 · Mir Shabbar Ali2 Received: 12 November 2019 / Accepted: 2 April 2020 / Published online: 25 April 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract This study presents a comparative analysis of selected parameters of existing formal and informal Public Transport (PT) modes being operated on three different types of fuels. The performance of PT modes is analysed on fuel consumption, capacity, transportation cost, and emissions resulting from these modes. The required data were collected using route-check survey method and conducting a questionnaire-based survey from drivers and operators of these modes. Furthermore, the performance of proposed buses for an under-construction BRT corridor is also evaluated and compared with the existing PT modes. The comparative analysis of the existing PT modes in Karachi shows that CNG operated PT modes are economically more efficient, which caused the conversion of diesel engines of buses and minibuses to CNG fuelled-engines. The study, for the first time, evaluates and compares the performance of informal PT mode (chingchi) with other modes of PT. Results show that the PT modes with less capacity, such as chingchi, should be discouraged due to their comparatively lower performance on the selected parameters. This study can be used by the authorities to analyze the performance of existing modes and prioritize the PT modes for future planning. Keywords Modes of public transport · Energy efficiency · Fuel consumption · Emissions · Public transport mode capacity
1 Introduction Megacities all over the world are experiencing rapid growth of motorized transportation [1, 2]. Karachi is one of the megacities that face severe transportation problems [3, 4]. The situation is deteriorating day-by-day due to a lack of appropriate transport policies and decision making. The lack of a properly regulated and monitored public transport system results in a gap which is filled by the non-professional private sector. The informal private sector works on the principle of profit maximization, which results in a poor level of service for commuters. In this situation, commuters experience problems in comfort, availability, accessibility, and safety which trigger commuters to
switch to either private vehicles or paratransit/e-hiring services. The lack of a proper public transport system resulted in increased dependency on motorbikes and cars [5, 6] which contributes to more traffic congestion [7, 8]. The number of motorbikes registered in Karachi has increased by 50% during a period of four years from 2013 to 2017, whereas the number of cars has increased by 38% during the same period [9]. Public transit routes are decreasing continuously, which dropped to 90 routes in 2017 in comparison with 149 routes in 2012 [10]. The informal public transport system in Karachi comprises of various modes, which includes minibus, bus, and chingchi as shown in Fig. 1. The routes for buses and minib
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