19 buses on way to ease Metro congestion in Lahore

[UmarJustice]

Nineteen buses are to be added to the Metro Bus fleet of 45 by the end of June as demand for the new bus service has exceeded expectations in the provincial capital.

The Metro Bus has been inundated with passengers since its opening on February 10. Those behind the project had expected the crowds to thin out after the initial excitement of travelling on the shiny new 27-km bus corridor and elevated track wore off. But the crowds did not thin out and some 120,000 people a day on average are using the bus service.

The Punjab Metro Bus Authority (PMBA) ordered 19 new buses around a month after the inauguration. The buses from China Volvo are to arrive in Karachi by June 20, and in Lahore some 10 days later.

“We ordered new buses because of the high passenger load,” said PMBA General Manager (Operations) Uzair Shah.

The expansion of the fleet would mean that the buses wouldn’t always be so packed, he added.

Some 45 buses are operational on the bus-only track on Ferozepur Road. But the authorities have been unable so far to run a smart traffic signalling system at the eight junctions where the bus must interact with general traffic. As a result, the PMBA has struggled to run the buses at fixed intervals as planned.

Lines 2 and 3

The PMBA recently received a feasibility report from Turkish company Ulasim for a second potential Metro Bus line from Thokar Niaz Beg to MAO College along Multan Road, a length of 12.6 kilometres.

Ulasim is also working on a feasibility study for a third line from Azadi Chowk to the Ring Road via the City Railway Station and Daroghewala along GT Road. The report is due in some 30 days.

Shah, the PMBA general manager, said that the report for line 2 was a preliminary one and it would likely undergo several changes, so he did not wish to share it.

He said that the new Punjab government would decide which route to start work on first.

Revised rates

Passengers on the Metro Bus are currently charged a flat rate of Rs20 per journey. A PMBA official said that the authority would advise the new government to set destination-specific fares, along the lines of the rates notified by the Lahore Transport Authority.

According to the LTA rates, the maximum ticket price would be Rs36 for travelling the length of the 27km track.

Shah said that the new government would decide whether to revise the rates or not.

He said that cards had been introduced for regular travellers in February shortly after the bus service was inaugurated.

Public transport: 19 buses on way to ease Metro congestion – The Express Tribune

 

[Tiger Awan]

Great

 

[I FLY HIGH]

koi muqabil nahe door tak balkay bauhat door tak .

 

[SBD-3]

So they are expanding just like Singapore MRT......Once the comprehensive infrastructure is in place, they should introduce taxes on owning vehicles to encourage people to use economical MRT.

 

[Roybot]

I have been saying all along that this is an excellent project. Very well thought out and future proofed. Once Pakistan/Punjab government has more money and sorted out the energy crisis, they can lay down tracks in the bus corridor and run high capacity trams instead.

Like these ones,

The ground and civil work is already there, including platforms, and elevated corridors. Its heartening to see such modern public transport systems flourish in the sub continent. Good luck

 

[Hyde]

I have been saying all along that this is an excellent project. Very well thought out and future proofed. Once Pakistan/Punjab government has more money and sorted out the energy crisis, they can lay down tracks in the bus corridor and run high capacity trams instead.

Like these ones,

The ground and civil work is already there, including platforms, and elevated corridors. Its heartening to see such modern public transport systems flourish in the sub continent. Good luck

and i guess I was among the few people who always appreciated this project. I am yet to see any metro bus/train project which was ever failed. Such projects are bound to be successful in every large city, if properly planned.

Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Peshawar, Gujranwala, Hyderabad should all get similar projects and they will generate enough money for self-existence and further expansion of the projects. Once your bus-metro project is successful... You already have the tracks, You can easily transform in to Tram service or generate enough revenue to lay the whole infrastructure in many more cities.

 

[ExtraOdinary]

Good to see mass rapid transit gaining traction in our part of the world. Given our high pop. density they should have been introduced sooner, par der aaye durust aye

 

[Jango]

and i guess I was among the few people who always appreciated this project.

Me too, me too.

Sure the project was a election gimmick, feasibility not done, other stuff bypassed and all, steel from single tender etx, but in the end it was a project that would benefit the people.

But a lot of economists are saying that this would be a white elephant and constant money will need to be pumped in and it will be pumped in just to save face value.

Lets see.

 

[Hyde]

Good to see mass rapid transit gaining traction in our part of the world. Given our high pop. density they should have been introduced sooner, par der aaye durust aye

Yeah this should be there back in 1990s. We should have been heading towards the underground long time ago. I guess if Musharraf was there, Lahore underground project could have been reality

 

[ExtraOdinary]

Yeah this should be there back in 1990s. We should have been heading towards the underground long time ago. I guess if Musharraf was there, Lahore underground project could have been reality

Yes, given the fact that you guys were leading economically in the 90's, you could easily have been introduced it then. Delhi was a hellhole b4 metro arrived in 2000's.

 

[Hyde]

Yes, given the fact that you guys were leading economically in the 90's, you could easily have been introduced it then. Delhi was a hellhole b4 metro arrived in 2000's.

I guess we were never leading economically but these projects were very cheap those days. See the road constructed with 2 billion rupees back in early 1990s may cost 100 billions in 2013.