A Chevening scholar, Wasif holds a double MBA from the University of Bath, UK, and Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi. He is also a Certified Director

TEXT: Wasif Ijlal is the CEO of TransKarachi. He has held several leadership and advisory positions in the banking, private equity Infrastructure, and investment management space. With over 25 years of professional experience under his belt, Wasif's expertise lies in building and strengthening organizations in the startup and growth stage. He has served as the Board Member of Faysal Bank (Pakistan), Infrastructure and Growth Capital Fund (UAE), IDB Infrastructure Fund-1 (Bahrain), Sakana Holistic Housing Solutions (Bahrain), Maxa Borna and Drobnera (Poland), Autopia (Turkey) and Hupomone Capital Partners (Singapore).

What does TransKarachi do? What is the vision and mission of the Company?

TransKarachi is a public sector company established to carry out the project implementation, management, and maintenance of the $504 million Karachi Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Red Line. The project is sponsored by the Government of Sindh, with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and co-financiers, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the French Agency for Development (AFD), and the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

When is the project going to be completed?

The aim is to complete it in three years, which would see the civil construction completed, buses trial commissioning done and the bio gas plan up and running. Civil works would start by Mid-March 2022. The construction phase would last two years. Construction would be done in two lots; Lot 1 is from Malir Halt to Mosamyat and Lot 2 is from Mosamyat to Numaish.

What is the broader impact of this project?

One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Karachi is consistently ranked as one of the world's most unlivable cities. Traffic congestion and induced air and noise pollution play a major role in these poor rankings. Karachi is one of the largest cities in the world which till the commissioning of the Green Line, lacked a formal public transport and mass-transit system.

The Karachi Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Red Line Project is intended to deliver a zero-emission sustainable transportation system that is affordable, comfortable, fast, safe, and secure. The completed Red Line BRT Corridor will directly benefit 1.5 million people. The project will comprise two interlinked outputs: (i) the construction of a 26.5-kilometer (km) BRT corridor and associated facilities, and (ii) sustainable BRT operations through institutional improvements. The project is economically justified by major time savings for future BRT passengers, vehicle operating cost savings, better air quality and carbon emissions savings, which will improve the health of Karachi's citizens and mitigate climate change.

What is being done to ensure that the Red Line BRT will beat par with international standards?

Red Line BRT is the State of Art Third Generation BRT with all Transit Oriented Features included. So far, Pakistan has only one Third Generation BRT in Peshawar but that is still not fully integrated with the proximate land use. Karachi BRT Red Line being a game changer for the city offers full integration of the proximate land use with Transit Oriented development. The design features of the Red Line Infrastructure are as per the international standards wherein focus is both on accessibility, mobility and last mile connectivity. Likewise, universal accessibility and gender needs have been addressed in the design, ensuring participation of all the social groups of the society.

The current mode of public transport is very different from the vision you have in mind for the Red Line BRT. How do you plan to bring the current users of public transport under the digital ambit?

The Red Line BRT contains features similar to a light rail or metro system; however, it is much more reliable, convenient and faster than regular bus services. The service will be able to avoid delays that typically slow down regular bus services, like being stuck in traffic, competing to get onboard the bus due to high demand, queuing to pay on board, unable to sit due to standing crowd and then struggling to alight at the preferred stop.

Additionally, the Red Line BRT will provide Reduced Number of stops, Exclusive BRT corridors/reserved lanes so the busses can easily run at higher speeds and offer an alternative solution to car drivers, Transit Priority Systems at selected intersections and turn prohibitions for public vehicles, Information in Real- Time about the arrival time and location of approaching vehicles on the stations, convenient Ticketing facilities outside the vehicle saving time for passengers on board as well as Road-level access through low-floor bus and stations equipped with facilities for passengers as well as the added facility for passengers to communicate and report issues, concerns or suggestions to management in a timely manner.

The Red Line BRT System will be equipped with the most recent transit technologies and will provide an efficient way to deal with increased passenger expectations and the rise in traffic, congestion, and other road vulnerabilities. These technologies are wide ranged and comprehensive, which include Intelligent Transit Systems, Integrated Passenger Information Systems, LED Bus Signs, CAD / AVL, Automated voice announcements, Vehicle Health Management System, Fleet Management System, Real Time Passenger Information System, LED Destination Signs, Operations Command Centre, Security and Surveillance and Network Reliability.

The current user of public transit is more resilient than ever before. With the ever increase in the usage of social media and smart phones, they are quite familiar in these planned technologies. Research in the similar startup systems in developing countries, and more recently in Peshawar, transit technologies was widely accepted by the riding public and the steady increase in the TransPeshawar ridership data confirms it.

What is the TransKarachi team and affiliated organizations doing to ensure safety of all passengers?

The Red Line BRT busses will offer passengers a convenient, comfortable, and safe means of traveling. TransKarachi, the Vehicle Operating Contractors and System Provider Contractors are committed to passenger and staff safety and will implement following measures:

Security check at the entrance of each station by a well-trained security guards and metal detecting gate.
Continuous CCTV monitoring of all passengers by Operations Command Control Centre staff on all stations and the option of assistance up on any out of the ordinary activity by a suspicious person.
The driver and the conductor can call for assistance as and when needed via on-board communication arrangement including radio, cell and canned message, as well as a silent panic button for immediate help as these buses will be equipped with advance computing, wireless communication and automatic vehicle location features.
Real Time live surveillance and video analytics of bus fleets will help ensure the safety and security of passengers and quick response from support teams.
The on-board system will be able to monitor and collect data such as driving behavior and passenger flows, giving TransKarachi insights into its fleet operations allowing them to make continuous improvements to the system as needed.
Separate waiting spaces and sections on the TransKarachi buses will ensure the safety of female passengers.

The project will create Pakistan's first Zero Emission Mass Transit System. Can you talk about the impact this has on communities and the environment at large?

The Karachi Breeze Red Line will be the first ever transport system in Pakistan to use bio-methane produced from animal waste as a fuel resource for its bus fleet. Bio-methane is the world's most sustainable source of transport fuel, delivering much greater reduction in greenhouse gases than any other technologies, including even Electric Vehicles (EV). The Karachi Breeze Red Line will have its own dedicated biogas plant located in the Landhi Cattle Colony with a capacity of producing 60,000 Nm3 per day of biogas. Biomethane is chemically identical to natural gas and so can be used as a direct replacement, but with the benefit of being 100% renewable.

The project will collect and treat significant amounts of manure which currently degrade anaerobically, releasing methane to the atmosphere. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas, with an environmental impact 28 times greater than CO2. It is expected that the project will generate total emission reductions of 127,000 tCO2e per year. In addition, the Biogas project will bring many benefits to the citizens of Karachi and have a very wide range of benefits for the local community through improved sanitation and job creation. It will also benefit the citizens of the globe by reducing greenhouse gas emissions responsible for damaging and dangerous climate change. In the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this biogas projects delivers on all the 17 SDGs.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022