If you’ve ever driven in Karachi, the one thing that bothers you most out of the list nuisance are those people who need to catch the bus and who think that it’s their right for the bus to stop wherever they are standing. It is a common sight to see a bus stopping to pick up 3 or 4 different passengers standing apart all within a few steps of each other.
When the government started the Urban Public Transport system with those green air conditioned busses and educated drivers and conductors, there was hope that maybe just maybe things will change, however it was quickly realized that educating the driver and conductor is not going to do any good when our public is full of educated jahils. Pretty soon these busses also started following the old trend of stopping everywhere to pick up the passengers.
This time around CDGK has taken a new path and a couple of months ago and built brand spanking new bus stops throughout the Signal Free Corridor between Sharah-e-Faisal and SITE. These bus stops were not only good to look at but practical as well. They provide a clean place to rest yourself, provide shade from the sun during the day, and a well lighted place after sunset. I was a little skeptical at first, whether our public will use them as previously such exercises from the government had gone down the drain. But this time it was a little different as people started gathering at these stops. So I guess that old saying was correct that if you build them, they will come, or in this case, they will use it.
When the government started the Urban Public Transport system with those green air conditioned busses and educated drivers and conductors, there was hope that maybe just maybe things will change, however it was quickly realized that educating the driver and conductor is not going to do any good when our public is full of educated jahils. Pretty soon these busses also started following the old trend of stopping everywhere to pick up the passengers.
This time around CDGK has taken a new path and a couple of months ago and built brand spanking new bus stops throughout the Signal Free Corridor between Sharah-e-Faisal and SITE. These bus stops were not only good to look at but practical as well. They provide a clean place to rest yourself, provide shade from the sun during the day, and a well lighted place after sunset. I was a little skeptical at first, whether our public will use them as previously such exercises from the government had gone down the drain. But this time it was a little different as people started gathering at these stops. So I guess that old saying was correct that if you build them, they will come, or in this case, they will use it.
The good thing about these stops are that they are brought in and only assembled at the site, which means putting it up is very easy, and in a day they can erect many of these stops. The stops are also designed keeping in mind the advertisers in order to make them self sufficient. However, what I still have to see is how they will hold up if and when the rioting happens, because most of it as you can see in the pic is made of clear glass/plastic.
Anyway, now that CDGK has seen that the idea works, they are expanding it to more places besides the signal free corridor. There’s also a rumor going around that Jahangir Siddiqui, a prominent Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) broker has bought stake in the company who has the contract for these stops and is planning on putting em up through out Karachi. Once they are erected, then they’ll start renting them out for ads to the marketing companies and start earning revenue from it.
I hope they succeed, as not only do these bus stops give a good look to our city, but also are a much better and safer alternative to those huge billboards for the advertising companies.
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