Islamabad: Road accident losses account for four percent of the country’s GDP, more than Pakistan’s defense budget. These losses include death, loss of life, and damage to infrastructure and equipment.
Zaman Research Center (ZRC) Chairman and Founder, School of Sociology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Dr Muhammad Zaman expressed this concern in a seminar titled “Safe Road, Safe Future”. ZRC organized this awareness workshop in association with Islamabad Traffic Police.
Speaking on the occasion, SSP Sarfaraz Virk said that the use of artificial intelligence and smart technology can make roads safer. He said the traffic police are open to ZRC solutions to traffic problems.
The ZRC team members told the traffic police that the APP has been developed locally to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads of Islamabad to make it safer. Prof. Zaman said, increasing the number of vehicles makes the city smarter.
He presented a model that showed the city would need 250 to 300 buses to meet the transportation needs of 2.5 million people. The model he and his team developed ensures that buses arrive every 10 minutes on all major routes.
If you can ride the bus comfortably, you will not like your car because it will be too expensive. “We will encourage more car users by introducing a tax for the use of cars within the city, as we have done by developed countries,” he said.
Therefore, the road will be safer and more environmentally friendly. In addition, it will save a lot of money currently spent on fuel and mobility,” he said.
Currently there are about 1500 buses plying on the city roads and it is surprising that the government has more buses that have caused problems.
Finally, ITP vans also come for students to issue new SIM cards or renew expired ones. SSP Virk said the van will visit universities every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to facilitate students to get their licences.
This work is part of HEC’s ambitious Grand Challenges Fund programme.
