Supply-Demand Crisis of Public Transport in Pakistan

Rapid urbanization and motorization has stimulated travel demand in Pakistan. Now the challenge for Pakistan is to develop a sustainable urban transport system to meet this demand. Public transport being space-efficient and environmental friendly is perhaps the best choice. However, at present the supply of public transport infrastructure and services, by comparison, has lagged far behind demand. Financial constraints, lack of political will and disproportionate investment are some of the reasons for failure of efficient public transport provision in Pakistan. This paper focuses on public transport of Pakistan with special reference to Karachi to figure out the reasons of growing gap between the supply and demand of public transport facilities. An integrated approach of inter-department collaboration is suggested to improve the public transport system in Pakistan.