Space is a scarce resource, and Pakistani cities have learned that the hard way, now grappling with ill-designed densification in some parts, large sprawls on others, scattered land with informal settlements and congested roads and shahras unable to carry the burden of overcrowding and traffic on their puny shoulders. The move to vacate grabbed amenity plots and encroachment—though there is much contention on the means used to achieve that goal (more: “The Odyssey of Naya Karachi, Nov 26, 2018)—and construct motorbike lanes on Karachi’s biggest Shahra-e-Faisal is an encouraging start. But it’s not enough. 

Let’s look at traffic control and parking management across urban centers. The sheer volumes of cars and motorcycles, the latter alone are in millions and rising, have led to severe traffic gridlocks only to be worsened by poor management of roads and traffic. Poor quality and lack of safety contraptions on the vehicles, especially two-wheelers are another major problem. These have all contributed to a degradation of the existing road infrastructure, noise and air pollution as well as road accidents in the intercity. Meanwhile, encroachments and poor management of public and private properties used for parking are a drain on already scantily available land.

Since last year, the Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) in Lahore has been working to overhaul the traffic management system across the metropolis. To control the traffic mayhem exacerbated by motorcycle drivers lane splitting (riding the motorbikes between lanes or rows of traffic) and filtering forward (moving through stopped traffic), motorcycle lanes are being constructed. E-challan system is introduced to punish traffic violations; which will now be extended to include speed limit and lane violations as well, using technically calibrated speed radar cameras. The ongoing plan is to put up number plate recognizing cameras and LED light poles across the city.

Though Karachi administrators are diametrically opposed to sharing plans for the city—most “cleaning” work seems ad-hoc, there are major issues that need to be tackled by cities across the country, which may require a lot more investment and planning that is currently being put in.

One, the government owns the public spaces and should be able to regulate it better by charging per-hour graduating fee for parking, not only to generate an income but to also put its spaces into productive use. This means, retiring the contractors that charge drivers at will and bringing transparent technology into a mix through parking meters under a parking policy. Because parking demand is mostly higher than the supply, the fee for parking would be adjusted according to the time that users parked their car at the location. It would be a disincentive to leave their cars parked idly for hours—at the expense of other car parkers—simply because it would cost them. This system works efficiently around the world.

Two, because of the poor quality of motorcycles being imported as well as assembled, the government needs tougher safety and quality regulations for importers and manufacturers. Stipulating a time period by which vehicles—specially commercial and heavy vehicles and motorcycles—will need to be re-registered so that rundown and potentially dangerous vehicles can be kept off the roads.

Three, there are many options for smart technology that can help in traffic control. These can include installing route guidance systems for drivers, dynamics warning systems and intelligent traffic signals which use automated algorithms to make traffic signals work intelligently. Technology companies can come in these areas given the right motivation and incentives from the government.

Lastly some learning can be obtained from Delhi that recently announced that through a series of traditional steps, the city will eliminate traffic jams by 2020. The city will do this through improvement in road geometrics and constructing planned foot over-bridges, underpasses and U-turns over two years.