PRIVATE CARS, JEEPS AND STATION WAGONS:

The growth in the number of vehicles in Karachi is very high. The general trend shows vehicle ownership will rise from 63 vehicles for 1000 inhabitants in 1987 to 94 vehicles for 1000 inhabitants in 2000.

The growth implies a progressive decline of the share of public transport in inter-city travel and increasing problems of traffic on all major roads such as saturation, congestion and the lack of traffic safety.

MOTOR CYCLE, MOTOR SCOOTER & BICYCLE:

A slightly greater contribution to private transport by the private individual is the motorcycle and the motor scooter. There is also the non-motorized bicycle which is the cheapest form of private conveyance but no data has been found on its number.

PARA-TRANSIT:

Between the public and private modes come the vehicles hired by individuals or small groups on the roadside for specific journeys and collectively classified as para-transit. These include taxis, rickshaws, horse-drawn victoria & tongas etc.

SUZUKI VANS:

The Suzuki van is a vehicle akin to a small truck converted for passenger carrying purposes; usually hired on a contract basis for work or school, sometimes even as a shared taxi. A small number of bus routes have been established in some sections of Karachi.

BUSES:

The predominant mode for the movement of people by public transport within Karachi is the bus. OF all the buses actually on the road, some 70% have 26 seats or less and are classified as minibuses. All of the minibuses and about 80% of those standard size (all single deck & 42 seaters) are privately owned with a multiplicity of small scale proprietors while the vehicles within public sector are controlled by the Karachi Transport Corporation (now shut down).

The other form of public transport is the railway where diesel loco-hauled suburban trains operate over the main mine, tow branch lines and via a "circular" line to the north of the city. However, the total contribution of rail within Karachi compared with the bus is negligible.

MAJOR ROADS OR CORRIDORS:

A large number of corridors in Karachi carry the bulk of the road traffic movement. Travel by public transport is especially concentrated over here. These corridors contain large volumes of private vehicles and high demand public transport vehicles and represent the major road network serving Karachi.