KARACHI: Sindh’s public transport ambitions took a concrete step forward on Monday when the provincial Policy Board cleared the purchase of 500 electric buses, expanding a fleet that Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon says his government built from scratch in a country that had no concept of EV public transit just a few years ago.
Memon, who is also responsible for transport and mass transport, made this announcement from the floor of Sindh Assembly in connection with the development of a new route network covering some of the most heavily populated parts of Karachi city.
New Routes Across Karachi
The new buses will operate on three primary routes including those going through Ittehad Town, Banaras Colony, Liaquatabad, Jahangir Road and Cantt Station. Besides these routes, the Sindh government will also launch new services for communities including Orangi Ghaziabad, Iqbal Market, Walika, Nazimabad No. 2, Ayesha Manzil, and Zahoor Chowk.
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Routes from Maymar will also expand, building on the Gulshan-e-Maymar to Tower corridor that Memon inaugurated in March. That launch already gave residents of one of Karachi’s far-flung northern settlements a direct, affordable connection to the city centre something many had waited years for. Memon made no effort to understate the political significance of the rollout. He attributed the use of electric buses in Pakistan to the Pakistan Peoples Party, referring to statistics from the Orange Line that showed its ridership numbers have been consistently rising ever since its inception. He also highlighted the Pink Bus Service, Pakistan’s first dedicated women-only bus service, along with the Pink Scooties initiative aimed at empowering female commuters.
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The minister also took a pointed jab at the federal tax structure, revealing that the Sindh government paid 18 percent import tax on the EV buses while other entities importing similar vehicles faced only a one percent levy. He said the dispute initially delayed the buses at the port, but the provincial government resolved the issue instead of abandoning the project.
The broader picture Memon painted is one of a province deliberately building public transport infrastructure that other parts of the country have not attempted. Inter-city routes to Tando Allah Yar, Khairpur, Ranipur and Rohri now operate under the same electric-bus umbrella, extending the network well beyond Karachi’s city limits.
The effectiveness of 500 additional buses in addressing the persistent transport issue in Karachi will depend a great deal on how well these issues are managed: route allocation, scheduling, maintenance and the cost of the fare to those daily-wage workers who form the majority of the transport customers. It is not hard to imagine that a lot of people rely on public transport in Karachi.
What Monday’s Policy Board approval does confirm is that the Sindh government intends to keep moving. The fleet expansion, the new routes and the inter-city connections collectively represent the most ambitious public transport push the province has announced in recent memory and for Karachi’s long-suffering commuters, the proof will come at the bus stop.
