Unlike other countries, Pakistan lacks a system to manage public transportation with scheduled timetables, established routes, and fixed fares for each trip. This deficiency leads to severe traffic congestion, putting the entire populace at risk. The reasons for this menace include inadequate infrastructure, exacerbated by increasing political polarization, lack of proper legislation, corruption, and government failure. Pakistan has failed to manage its megacities, such as Karachi, which is the third-largest city in the world and has the highest rate of road fatalities in Asia. This is largely due to lawlessness and the failure to deliver justice in hundreds of thousands of fatal accident cases on its chaotic roads.
Despite being a thriving urban centre with an ever-expanding and overcrowded population of millions, Karachi lacks a functional public transport system. The available public transportation is merely a drop in the ocean, dominated by decades-old, ill-maintained buses that have earned the grim reputation of “killer buses” due to their role in countless fatal accidents caused by reckless driving. The recent case of young advocate Arz Muhammad Luhur, who was crushed and killed by a decades-old local 20 Number bus in a road accident on 22 August 2024, has sparked a movement among lawyers and fellow students, who are now demanding justice and a ban on such outdated buses. In reality, Karachi does not need minibuses at all; rather, large buses with proper infrastructure, transit routes, and sufficient standard operating procedures (SOPs) might be the solution to reducing road fatalities.
Karachi, a city with an estimated population of 22 million, currently operates roughly 12,000 buses, minibuses (9,500), and coaches, according to a 2018 World Bank report. Another report by Pakistan’s State Bank suggests that an additional 8,000 buses are needed to meet immediate demand. In 2023 alone, over 1,400 Karachiites lost their lives in road accidents, and more than 18,000 were injured. This indicates that, on average, 3-4 people are killed every day in Karachi due to fatal accidents. Therefore, it is concerning that adding 8,000 more buses to the existing fleet, along with expanding routes under the current infrastructure, could potentially lead to a two- to three-fold increase in the rate of fatal accidents. Bloomberg also reported Karachi as the worst out of 100 cities worldwide in terms of public transport.
Minibuses are the main killers let loose on Karachi’s roads. A highly dangerous “token system” is practised by minibus and coach operators, enforcing strict trip schedules that push drivers to complete 11 to 12 two-way trips instead of the usual six or seven rounds. If drivers fail to adhere to this schedule or arrive late, they face double charges or fines. These corrupt practices by transport mafias pressure drivers to complete the maximum number of trips in the shortest possible time.
Additionally, drivers often race their overcrowded buses against other vehicles or buses for entertainment, posing a severe risk to the lives and safety of passengers. The government needs to impose a limit of 5-6 trips per day and enforce speed restrictions for public transport buses.
The state has paid no attention to public transportation, resulting in unchecked vehicles becoming a death sentence for citizens. Most drivers are illiterate and recruited without proper driving, eyesight, or moral tests, leaving passengers at risk. Additionally, Karachi, a vast metropolis, lacks transit lanes, which contributes to the increasing road fatalities. Transit lanes or transit ways are portions of the street designated by signs and markings for the preferential or exclusive use of transit vehicles, sometimes permitting limited use by other vehicles. Such lanes are urgently needed in Karachi.
Despite laws such as the Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965, the Sindh Environment Protection Act 2014, the National Highways Safety Ordinance 2000, and the Sindh Road Transport Corporation Act 2019—all of which mandate proper registration, certification of roadworthiness, environmental safety standards, and the removal of unfit, old, and outdated vehicles—killer buses continue to operate on the roads. The question is: what, who, and why is allowing these dangerous and killer buses on the roads?
It’s a double-edged sword: lawbreakers must be punished, but those black sheep in government who oversee this bloody business of killer buses must also be removed and sentenced. Unfortunately, in practice in Pakistan, where there is legislation and laws, there is often either no implementation or vice versa.
Muneer Hussain
The writer is a law undergrad at Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University of Law (SZABUL) Karachi. He can be reached
at muneerhussain.szabul@gmail.com.
