The Karachi Bus Owners Association has called for an indefinite strike from June 18 against the heavy traffic challans and fines being issued to public transport buses by the police.
The association said that the operators have agreed to suspend public transport service in the whole of Karachi, because of increasing concerns over strict traffic enforcement and financial penalties.
Association President Farooq Ahmed called on all bus companies to not run their buses on the roads from June 18 to support the protest campaign.
He said the strike would continue till the related authorities settled the grievances of the transporters and fulfilled their demands.
The expected closure may create problems for thousands of people who use public transport to get to work throughout the city.
Earlier, in a move to enhance traffic discipline and safety on the busiest artery of the city, Karachi Traffic Police officially begun issuing e-challans for lane violations.
The enforcement has been started in the first phase on Shahrah-e-Faisal only as said by traffic police spokesperson.
The authorities will, however, start to gradually roll out the e-challan system to other major roads of the city.
The spokesperson advised drivers to practice the rule of lane discipline and drive in assigned lanes.
Motorcyclists, bus drivers, rickshaw drivers and private vehicle drivers have all been asked to comply with the new rules to make traffic flow more efficiently and make their commuting safer.
Prior to the system implementation, an awareness campaign was already carried out to educate the drivers about the new rules, traffic police officials said.
They said that while efforts must be made to improve traffic conditions, a commuter’s attitude is as important as the law.
The project is expected to ease traffic flow, decrease congestion and minimise the risk of traffic accidents.
Lane discipline is one of the most important aspects of ensuring the proper order on super-busy roads like Shahrah-e-Faisal, they added.
This comes after the Karachi Traffic Police had announced a lane management plan.
The plan calls into effect lanes for light transport vehicles such as motorcycles, rickshaws and buses.
Shahrah-e-Faisal was chosen as the first phase due to the existing monitoring and enforcement system, which includes cameras.
The policy is that violators will be fined by E-Ticketing in Rs. Motorcycles and rickshaws will be fined up to Rs2,500 and buses up to Rs5,000-7,500 for lane violations.
Also read: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari issued e-challan in Karachi
