Motorcycle cities

Fast growing motorcycle sales are great for manufacturers no doubt—there is the example of Atlas Honda. The company is currently in expansion mode, and has grown consistently over the years, rain or shine. Sales grew with a CAGR of 9 percent between 2011 and 2018, revenues by 11 percent, and the pre-tax bottom-line by 20 percent. Overall volume of two-wheelers on the roads have crossed 2 million with a number of new manufacturers, notably Chinese, entering the market with low-quality, low-price models. Now, motorcycles are 85 percent of all industry sales, but back in 1999, this share used to be 54 percent. Making up a large part of the transportation system in our sprawling cities, this deluge is not only uninspiring but also disrupting.

Motorcycles heavily contribute to frequent traffic gridlocks and worsening air quality while being a leading cause of road accidents in the intercity. The city layouts and absence of traffic control are also designed to favor the barrage of motor vehicles swirling in and out of traffic unabated. Barring a few shahras, roads and alleys are poorly constructed, narrow and unaccommodating which allow passengers to move seamlessly via motorcycles, at the expense of everyone else. But commuters also have had few alternatives.

With the expanding middle class and a greater share of a younger population seeking and being put to work, means of transportation were needed. There hadn’t been any successful mass transit projects, though many bus projects had been attempted in the past. Toward the start of 2015, demand escalated further and was met with new affordable vehicles being made available by newcomers (Road Prince, United Auto), old players had to keep prices the same so as to sustain competition, financing was made cheaper as the economy was enjoying low interest rates, while banks designed a number of products in collaboration with industry players for auto financing. The stars were aligned.

Passengers that traveled via city-wide buses—from the infamously diesel-run bejeweled buses of Karachi and the dangerously mammoth truck-like buses in Lahore—could afford to procure a motorcycle at easy installments. Those that had motorcycles could upgrade to a higher-engine without a huge dent to their pockets.

The resulting affect was that motorcycles began to dominate traffic flows; increase the demand for petrol and gas; cause weak roads to disassemble and disintegrate faster than before, traffic to congest more so much that pavements were no longer off-limits, whilst also substantially spiking air and sound pollution. Because of poor management on roads, a two-passenger two-wheeler could be found carrying a family of six or being used for the transportation of heavy materials for their day jobs.

Now there are studies that show that as income levels grow and lifestyles improve, countries witness a shift from the ownership of motorcycles to the ownership of cars. India has seen a similar shift—with low-engine motorcycle owners shifting to better quality high-engine motorcycles (read more: “Is Consumer Transport in Transition”, May 10, 2018). One could argue that this transition could happen in Pakistan.

The metro systems and the new rapid bus transit systems in multiple cities in varying degrees of completion and the potential revival of the Karachi Circular Railway could reduce the use of motorcycle ownership. But a lot more needs to be done. Manufacturers need to be challenged and regulated to improve the quality of their vehicles. The new roads that are being constructed need to be better designed to organize traffic flows, such as constructing high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes for buses and motorcycles. Re-registration of all motorcycles after a stipulated time period should be imposed so dilapidated and rundown vehicles can be taken off the roads. Traffic control and management needs to be prioritized and enforced, not just at peak hours and not just by a lone constable. Provincial governments need to bring in automated systems for penalties, tracking traffic and driving violations as well as parking.

One could argue that motorcycles could be better options than cars as they consume less fuel, take less space on roads as well as for parking. But not in their existing state in which they are draining and bleeding the cities.