A recent and timely discussion on social media has brought into sharp focus the hazardous traffic situation confronting Gilgit, compelling serious reflection on how this growing crisis can be addressed. Central to this debate is the possibility of introducing environment-friendly e-buses as the backbone of an intra-city mass transit system—an idea that forces us to re-examine Gilgit’s mobility challenges in their full structural context.
Gilgit at a Turning Point: Identifying the Core Mobility Failures
Gilgit’s traffic problem has evolved from a routine urban inconvenience into a systemic crisis affecting public safety, economic efficiency, environmental quality, and everyday livability. Roads that were once adequate for a small town now carry traffic volumes far beyond their design capacity. Pedestrians, motorcyclists, private cars, freight vehicles, and informal transport all compete for the same limited space, producing daily congestion and frequent near-misses—and, increasingly, serious accidents.
At the heart of this crisis lies a fundamental failure: urban growth has not been matched by transport planning. While Gilgit has steadily transformed into a regional administrative, commercial, and educational hub, its mobility framework remains fragmented, reactive, and largely vehicle-centric.
Any meaningful response must therefore move beyond piecemeal fixes and recognize Gilgit and its surrounding settlements as one functional urban region, not isolated jurisdictions.
The Expanding Urban Reality: Pressure from the Periphery
Gilgit today cannot be planned in isolation. Settlements such as Danyore and Oshikhandas have effectively become integral extensions of Gilgit’s urban economy. Thousands of residents commute daily for employment, education, healthcare, and trade, adding relentless pressure to a road network never designed for such sustained flows.
This commuter traffic is structural, not temporary. As land scarcity, rising rents, and informal expansion push housing outward, the daily influx of vehicles into Gilgit will only intensify. Any strategy limited to the city core alone is therefore bound to fail.
Expressways from Minawar to Basin: Treating Symptoms, Not Causes
The proposal to construct two parallel expressways from Minawar to Basin is frequently cited as a solution to urban congestion by diverting through-traffic away from the city centre. While such corridors could improve east-west connectivity and reduce the intrusion of heavy vehicles into dense areas, their impact would remain inherently limited.
Expressways primarily redistribute traffic rather than reduce it. Global experience shows that additional road capacity often induces more private vehicle use, eventually restoring congestion at higher volumes. In Gilgit’s mountainous terrain, these projects would also involve high costs, land acquisition challenges, and environmental disruption.
Expressways may therefore play a supporting role, particularly for freight and transit traffic, but they cannot form the foundation of a sustainable urban mobility strategy.
Public Transport as the Missing Spine: The Case for E-Buses
The most glaring gap in Gilgit’s transport ecosystem is the absence of a reliable, dignified, and high-capacity public transport system. This is where the idea of environment-friendly e-buses becomes transformative.
Unlike road expansion, mass transit addresses congestion at its source by reducing the number of vehicles on the road. A properly planned e-bus system—scaled to Gilgit’s size and topography—could move far more people using far less road space, while also cutting emissions and noise in an ecologically fragile region.
Viewed regionally, the logic strengthens further. A hub-and-spoke network linking Danyore,Gilgit,Oshikhandas and beyond, supported by feeder routes and park-and-ride facilities, could intercept commuter traffic before it overwhelms the city core. For students, workers, women, and the elderly, such a system would offer safety, affordability, and predictability—qualities currently missing from daily travel.
Without extending public transport into peri-urban areas, inner-city congestion will persist regardless of how many roads are widened or built.
Internal Chaos: The Failure of Intra-City Traffic Management
Even the best regional connectivity will falter if Gilgit’s internal circulation remains unmanaged. Bazaar streets cannot continue to function simultaneously as pedestrian spaces, parking zones, and arterial roads. The absence of pedestrianisation, weak parking control, lack of signalisation, and minimal enforcement have turned routine movement into daily risk.
Most critically, public transport is not prioritised in road allocation. A single bus carrying dozens of passengers is routinely delayed behind a handful of private cars—a reversal of rational urban logic.
Governance: The Silent Constraint
Gilgit’s traffic crisis is as much an institutional failure as an engineering one. Sustainable mobility demands:
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A dedicated metropolitan transport authority covering Gilgit and its adjoining settlements.
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Integrated land-use and transport planning to prevent uncontrolled ribbon development.
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Data-driven decision-making instead of ad hoc interventions.
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Public engagement to build trust and encourage behavioural change.
Without governance reform, even well-designed infrastructure risks becoming an expensive disappointment.
Conclusion: Choosing People Over Vehicles
Gilgit is no longer a small town; it is an emerging urban region constrained by geography but driven by growth. Traffic congestion is not a passing phase—it is a warning signal.
Expressways from Minawar to Basin may ease specific flows. But environment-friendly e-buses, embedded in an integrated regional transport strategy, offer the most realistic path toward lasting relief.
Planning connectivity to Danyore, Oshikhandas, and beyond is not futuristic ambition—it is present necessity. The choice before policymakers is stark: anticipate growth and guide it intelligently, or continue reacting after congestion, pollution, and accidents have already exacted their cost.
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