Getting around Pakistan was 7.9% cheaper in September than in May, according to the BusCaro x P&C Mobility Index, launched today. The index measures what it costs to travel one kilometre across eight different modes of transport, and it fell from 100 in May to 92.1 in September. For the average vehicle on the road, a kilometre cost Rs 9.65 in September, compared with Rs 10.48 in May.
Cheaper petrol did most of the work as it averaged Rs 374.61 a litre in September, weighted by the days each price was in force, 7.5% below May's Rs 405.19. The index weights each kind of transport by the number of vehicles on the road, where privately-owned motorcycles and cars’ cost of commute move in line with the fuel, so the national reading naturally moves closely with the pump. The rest of the fall came from ride-hailing, where app fares dropped further than fuel. Per kilometre, a 20 km car ride cost 23% less than in May, a bike ride 18.3% less and a rickshaw 11.7% less.
Petrol matters this much because of what Pakistanis drive. Of the 36.7 million vehicles the index counts, 30.3 million are motorcycles and 5.1 million are cars, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2024-25. Owned bikes, cars and rickshaws, all priced on fuel alone, carrying 98.7% of the weight. Ride-hailing, ride-sharing and public transport together carry just over 1%, based on an estimate of active ride-hailing vehicles across all platforms.
For a Honda CD70 rider, the fuel cost of a kilometre fell from Rs 7.37 in May to Rs 6.81 in September. Running a car cost Rs 24.78 a kilometre, down from Rs 26.80, and a private rickshaw Rs 11.71, down from Rs 12.66. The sums are small but they add up: every Rs 10 on the price of a litre adds 18 paisa to each kilometre on a CD70, 31 paisa on a rickshaw and 66 paisa on the average car.
Pakistan & Counting and BusCaro partnered to build the index as a measure of the cost to get around Pakistan. It prices the same 20 km trip on eight kinds of transport, from a family motorcycle to an app-booked car, and combines them into one national reading weighted by the vehicles on the road.
Petrol was cut from Rs 373.78 to Rs 299.50 on 20 June and bottomed at Rs 297.53 on 4 July. From late July, it repriced almost every working day, mostly upward, and touched Rs 393.75 on 22 September. Therefore, the index change is partly due to a high-base effect.
Public transport was an anomaly, as its sub-index showed a noticeable increase. All four of Punjab's BRT services, the metro buses in Lahore, Rawalpindi–Islamabad and Multan and Lahore's Orange Line, were free from early April until 12 June 2026, so May records no fare on them. With the Rs 40 flat fare back, the public-transport line rose 77%, from Rs 1.22 to Rs 2.16 a seat-kilometre. Over the same period, the fuel cost of a full bus or wagon seat fell 4.8%. Public transport carries under half a percent of the weight, so the jump barely touches the national figure.
The BusCaro x P&C Mobility Index is compiled and published by Pakistan & Counting. BusCaro, a ride-sharing operator, collects the ride-hailing fares used in the index, and its own fares form the ride-sharing line. It has no say over the method or the readings. Full methodology and sources: : Mobility Index - Public Methodology.