Metro feeder routes: 200 buses to reach Lahore in mid-Sept

These buses will be run on 14 routes spread over 123 km

LAHORE: As many as 200 buses to be run on feeder routes of the Metro Bus Service are set to reach the city by mid-September, a Daewoo Pakistan spokesperson told The Express Tribune on Tuesday.

He said an order had already been placed for these buses. The company would run these buses, 162 big-sized and 38 small-sized, under an agreement with the Punjab Mass-transit Authority (PMA) on 14 routes spread over 123 kilometers. The agreement has been signed for a six-year period. It can be extended with consent of both parties.

The spokesperson said Daewoo Pakistan was spending Rs3 billion for the procurement of these buses. He said that the Punjab Mass-transit Authority (PMA) would pay the company Rs165 (for big-sized buses) and Rs140 (for small-sized buses) per kilometre for operating these buses. The company estimates that around 200,000 passengers will travel on the feeder routes every day. The buses will be equipped with Automated Fare Collection and Bus Scheduling System (AFC-BSS) and global positioning system (GPS) tracking devices.

Official documents available with The Tribune state that the company will set up card (ticket) sale and recharge points at 22 locations along the feeder routes. These points will remain open during operations hours – estimated to be around  18 in a day. The company will also arrange 15 handheld electronic ticket validators for spot checking by ticket inspectors.

Earlier, PMA Operations General Manager Syed Uzair Shah had announced that buses for feeder routes would reach the city in August. He had said that the company hoped to arrange public transport facilities within 500 metres of each resident of the city.  The authority planned to run around 1,400 standard or mini-buses on 104 routes covering 951 km, he had said.

35 buses for Multan Metro arrive in country

As many as 35 articulated buses to be used for the Multan Metro Bus Service have reached the country, Daewoo Pakistan spokesperson said.

He said the 18-meter long articulated buses would start operations as soon as the construction of metro bus track was complete. “It is likely that the project will be inaugurated on the Independence Day,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 10^th, 2016.