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MASS TRANSIT: The Motorbike Option Presentation by Arif Hasan and Mansoor Raza

Explore the potential of motorbikes as a cost-effective and flexible mode of transportation for Karachi. Learn about the research findings and why motorbikes can be a viable option for commuting in the city.

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MASS TRANSIT: The Motorbike Option Presentation by Arif Hasan and Mansoor Raza

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  1. MASS TRANSIT: The Motorbike OptionPresentation byArif Hasan and Mansoor Raza Urban Resource Centre, Karachi29 September 2011

  2. Present System • The present transport system of Karachi is • Inadequate • Uncomfortable • Badly managed and regulated • Increasingly expensive (up by 100 percent in last 5 years) • The present public transport system adversely affects the social, cultural and economic life of the city and its security related problems.

  3. Impediments? • Since 1989 mass transit options for Karachi have been studied to death and every time similar options surfaced. The process of making these plans a reality always hits snags. Observers believe this is because of: • Conflicts within the Sindh government on the ownership of the plans • Lack of interest on the part of Sindh politicians in following them up • An anti-Karachi bias in Islamabad • The fact is that most of these plans were not found to be economically feasible. New plans, technically very sound, have been proposed by the Karachi Transport Improvement Project.

  4. Myths • There are a number of myths promoted about the proposed mass transit options. Three of these myths are: • The rail based mass transit system will result in reduction of traffic • They will be cheap enough for the poor to afford • They will solve the transport problems of the city Manila, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Delhi, Tehran, San Paulo rail projects have proved that these myths are false. The London experience, where large scale rail based mass transit exists has faced similar problems. The main reason for traffic problems is the increase in the number of car promoted by the car-banking-oil nexus. 07-08 in Karachi over 500 vehicles were registered per day, in Bangkok 1750 and in Dehli 1200.

  5. Reasons why cities have failed to Manage Traffic and Transport • Manila, Bangkok, Tehran, Cairo, Mexico city have invested in flyovers, expressways, light rail transit (LRT) in a big way. Yet their traffic problems are worse than ours and commuting for the majority is more time consuming than in Karachi and at rush hours not more comfortable.The reasons are: • 1.Transport, traffic planning and land use have not been integrated. • 2.Failure to persuade people to use public transport. • 3.Investment in expensive light rail projects which have proved inappropriate: • because of heavy investment, projects are too small to make a real difference; • require decades to complete; • are expensive to use as compared to buses (in many cases unaffordable for • the poor); • cannot easily be extended or added to require extensive engineering inputs; and • the manner in which corridors for LRT are identified requires a “transfer penalty” for the vast majority of commuters • 4.The absence of an urban design exercise for building and development projects.

  6. Transport Modes/Costs

  7. LRT/BRT Coverage in Different cities 1. LRT Coverage • 2. BRT COVERAGE • Bogotá: Car rider-ship reduced by about 30 per cent (cancelled LRT and metro in favour of BRT in 2000) • Curitiba: Car rider-ship reduced by about 42 per cent • Jakarta: (Just 2 corridors so far with no other linkages) 14 per cent reduction on the 2 corridors

  8. Motor Bike Related Statistics • In 1990, there were 450 thousand motorbikes in Karachi • In 2004, there were 500 thousand motorbikes in Karachi • In 2010, there were one million motorbikes in Karachi • This means that in 2010, there were 57 motorbikes for every one thousand persons • At this rate of increase there will be 3.64 million motorbikes in Karachi in 2030. In the absence of an effective transport system, this is an under-statement. • Women do not ride motorbikes in Karachi. Many of them feel that this is a discrimination that prevents them from having choices in commuting. (Mansoor will talk in detail)

  9. Research • To understand the motorbike increase phenomena and the commuting preferences of Karachiites a small research was carried out. This consisted of interviewing and having a survey form filled out by: • 100 male and 100 female respondents at bus stops at different locations in the city. Almost all the respondents belong to the lower and lower middle income areas of the city • 25 motorbike users • 25 motorbike dealers • Web search for motorbikes in the international market was also carried out.

  10. Findings of the research – I Male respondents • 70 percent said that they would like to purchase a motorbike but do not have the means • They want to purchase a motorbike because of its flexibility and cost and time savings in commuting • 18 percent do not wish to use the motorbike because they or their families consider it an unsafe mode of travelling

  11. Findings of the research – II Female respondents: • 53 percent would like to commute by motorbike if given an option • 16 percent said that the motorbike was not suitable for women • 7 percent said that using a motorbike was against their religion • The rest said that their guardians would never give them permission to use a motorbike even though they wished to • Women also pointed out that they required “women-friendly” scooters since straddling a motorbike seat is culturally not acceptable

  12. Findings of the research – III Travel time • Average travel time for both men and women from home to work and back varied from 30 minutes to 6 hours by using public transport. Commuting costs • Average commuting costs from home to work and back for the male and female respondents works out at Rs 1,570 per month • The average cost of maintenance and fuel for the motorbike users interviewed works out to Rs 780 per month which also includes social and other business trips

  13. Findings of the research – IV Motorbike users concerns are related to: • High levels of air and noise pollution on the main corridors of movement • Absence of proper traffic control systems, bad road surfaces, police harassment and an absence of a physically segregated lane for motorbikes • Motorbike users also felt that with adjustment to the seat, a motorbike is suitable for three adults and for a family of four • 40 percent of the respondents also mentioned that space for parking was a major issue Motorbike dealers (Mansoor will talk in detail): • Pointed out that import duty on motorbikes is 65 percent and other taxes are 41.5 percent • Various packages for purchase of motorbikes on instalments are available Web search: (Mansoor will talk in detail) • Green bikes are available. They can overcome the concerns regarding noise and air pollution • Cost of green bikes are comparable to petrol run bikes

  14. Incentives to go for Motorbikes: • Because of the cost and time savings in commuting and flexibility, motorbikes are going to increase far more than anticipated, especially if women take to using them. • A rail based mass transit system and an improved bus system as envisaged by the Karachi Transport Improvement Project will take well over a decade to complete • Phase 1 of the Karachi Circular Railway will be completed in four years and will serve about 0.75 percent of trips generated in the city. On completion of Phase 2, it will serve 2.25 percent of trips generated • The cost of commuting through rail and improved bus transport systems will be much higher than the current prices (average cost of one-way journey by Delhi Metro is 38 Pak rupees. One-day travel card is 200 Pak rupees and a three-day travel card is 500 Pak rupees. Karachi costs will be similar. This does not mean that the projects of the Karachi Transport Improvement Project should not be implemented. They are important for they will serve a large proportion of the commuting public, especially the middle and lower middle classes, and will give a much needed form to the city.

  15. Important Question Should motorbikes be promoted as an integral part of a larger mass transit system for the city? This can be done by: • Reducing duties on them • Introducing micro-credit programmes for their purchase • Promoting the use of green motorbikes • Creating conditions for women to use scooters • Providing physically segregated motorbike lanes on the main traffic corridors • Taking steps to improve the safety of motorbike riders • Accommodating the requirements for motorbike use as an integral part of transport planning, traffic management, infrastructure design and building bye laws and zoning regulations • How will promoting them effect the scale and cost of the rail and bus related mass transit systems being proposed for the city?

  16. Findings From Women Respondents • 49 respondents are between the ages of 20 to 22 years and belong for the most part to lower income settlements. • Like their male counterparts, the journey from home to work and back takes an average of two hours. • 36 out of 68 respondents are ready to adopt a motorbike as an alternative to commuting by bus. • The ones who were not willing to adopt the motorbike, 11 felt they were not suitable for women; 5 felt that it was against religious doctrines; and the rest 20 felt that their parents/guardians would not give them permission. • This question was put to 20 women in an NGO seminar on disaster by one of the authors. All 20 were willing to opt for the motorbike option. • Women prefer “women-friendly” scooters rather than motorbikes so that they do not have to straddle the motorbike seat which is culturally considered improper.

  17. Petrol Versus Green Bikes • The cost of a petrol driven motorbike varies between Rs 40,000 to Rs 120,000. • The vast majority of sales are for the Rs 42,000 – Rs 60,000 bracket. • Motorbikes can be purchased by payments in instalments. Some of the packages are attractive with down payments as low as Rs 10,000 and monthly instalments as low as Rs 1,200. • Government duties on motorbikes are 90 percent. • The cost of green motorbikes varies between Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000. The operation costs of a hybrid motorbike (which runs on both fuel and electricity) are Rs. 1 per kilometre as opposed to the present Rs. 3 per kilometres of commuting by bus. • The fuel cost of electric power for motorbike operation is 25 percent of the cost of gasoline.

  18. Green Bikes/Scooties • The green/e-bike comprises of three basic parts: • motor, • battery box and • controller. • The e-scooters are considered more women friendly and cultural-fit, in South Asian context.

  19. Post – Research Worth Mentioning Info/Developments • To cater a domestic market of 1.5 million units Bike Makers Plan $150 million investment in next 2 years. • Motorcycle export stood $ 786,310 million in 2009-10 and surged $3.5 million in the next year. • Researchers are approached by following to advance the idea further: • Planning Department Government of Sindh • Two Motorcycle Manufacturing Companies • Yamaha • Honda

  20. Sales Status of Motorcycle at a Glance • Comparison of July 2010 with July 2011 shows increase of 12 percent • Comparison of August 2010 with August 2011 shows increase of 18 percent • Cumulative of the Two Months shows increase of 15 percent

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