January 28, 2016
The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) was commissioned by The Asian Development Bank (ADB) to develop a conceptual design for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Corridor in Karachi. The work began in September 2014 and finished in March 2015. It was presented to stakeholders, including the government of Sindh, Karachi Mass Transit Cell, NGOs and Karachi transporters on March 20. The red BRT corridor is 25 kilometers long with 41 stations — stretching from Safoora Roundabout along the University Road and continues to MA Jinnah Road until Merewether Clock Tower.
Redline BRT design is the first BRT design in Karachi (and possibly in Pakistan) that integrates with other public transport systems. The design considers the existing bus routes to be part of the BRT, called the “direct-service” BRT model. With this model, the existing bus routes will become the BRT routes, serving residential areas and other areas outside the BRT corridor. Although the red line BRT corridor will only have one corridor, the design proposed 23 BRT routes to be running, which will create a wider expansion of the BRT, and make it into a high capacity BRT system.
