490 buses execute 10,000 daily trips to ferry 118,000 Pakistani pilgrims from 273 buildings for prayer: Ajmal Khoso

Makkah, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd May, 2026) Under a meticulously structured transit blueprint, the repatriation and round-the-clock movement of over 100,000 Pakistani Hajj pilgrims from 273 residential buildings in Al-Aziziya and its surrounding areas to the Grand Mosque (Haram Shareef) for the five daily prayers remained fully operational.

To sustain this high-frequency operational framework, a fleet of 490 modern 40-seater buses had been dedicated exclusively to the mission, executing more than 10,000 daily round trips. This entire logistics network was configured across all 12 operational sectors of Makkah, striking a mathematically balanced ratio between pilgrim density, building locations, and vehicle distribution to ensure streamlined mobility.

According to In-charge transport, Muhammad Ajmal Khoso, the fleet deployment was calibrated precisely against pilgrim demographics to maintain an optimal supply-to-demand equilibrium across all sectors, thereby preventing traffic bottlenecks in any specific zone.

Providing a detailed sector-wise breakdown, Khoso revealed that Sector 1 (Aziziya), which carried one of the heaviest volume loads with 14,143 pilgrims, had been assigned 54 dedicated buses. Similarly, Sector 10 (Batha Quraish and Hijrah), catering to 14,293 pilgrims, operates with 49 active buses on a continuous loop.

To maintain the same ratio of efficiency, 41 buses had been deployed in Sector 2, 36 in Sector 3, 35 in Sector 4, 41 in Sector 5, 50 in Sector 6, 33 in Sector 7, and 35 in Sector 8. Furthermore, the Naseem sector (Sector 9) was backed by 60 buses, while Sectors 11 and 12 were operating with 30 and 25 buses, respectively.

The ultimate objective of this decentralization was to guarantee that every pilgrim has immediate access to a transit vehicle right at the doorstep of their respective accommodation.

The In-charge transport further highlighted that to ensure orderly and unimpeded access to the peripheries of the Haram, four specialized drop-off terminals have been strategically designated: Kudana, Kuda, Jarwal, and Reea Bakhsh.

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Among these, the Kudana terminal stood out as the largest hub, single-handedly managing the transit of over 50,000 pilgrims. Under standard traffic conditions, buses commuting from residential quarters to the Kudana drop-off point complete their journey in a brief window of 18 to 30 minutes, which dropped further to a swift 10 to 25 minutes when arterial roads were completely clear.

To introduce unparalleled transparency and live oversight, the Hajj Mission had pioneered the use of a cutting-edge tracking application, enabling second-by-second monitoring of bus arrivals, departures, and real-time geographic locations for the first time in the mission's history. Complementing this backend technology, large-format digital display screens housing the "Sawaat Transport Public Arrival Facility Dashboard" had been installed in hotel lobbies. This innovation allowed pilgrims to view the precise live arrival timings of oncoming buses from the comfort of their hotel lounges, entirely eliminating the need to wait exposed on the streets.

Elaborating on the external variables of the operation, Ajmal Khoso noted that executing a global-scale transit mechanism simultaneously with millions of international pilgrims presented inevitable ground challenges, such as prolonged traffic signal wait times, sudden roadblocks, and ad-hoc route diversions implemented by local Saudi authorities for security enforcement.

Khoso emphasized that while peak-hour congestion adding a few minutes to transit times remained a standard, predictable feature of international crowd management, the Pakistan Hajj Mission's smart digital infrastructure and robust transportation network had proven highly successful in guaranteeing the fastest, safest, and most comfortable travel facilities for the pilgrims.