K-P govt not to give subsidy on BRT fares

Peshawar’s district council members briefed on BRT, set to be initiated in the next few months

PESHAWAR: Members of Peshawar’s District Assembly have appreciated the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service project that has been approved and set to be started in the provincial capital in the next few months.

The district council meeting – chaired by Peshawar’s Deputy Mayor Qasim Ali Shah – was especially held on Tuesday to take the members into confidence on the multi-billion-rupee project. A team working on the BRT was also called to brief the house on the service that will be plied on 29 km long transit route.

The BRT team told the councilors about the routes of the project and discussed its estimated cost. It also gave a presentation on how the new bus service would mitigate the transport woes of the city.

Discussing the project with the district councilors, Shahid Alvi, a BRT team member, said this project would contribute to develop a sustainable urban transport system in Peshawar. The model adopted to construct the BRT service is a 3rd generation model that is internationally operating only in China.



Alvi said the total cost of the project is Rs52.36 billion. “The cost of infrastructure and establishment of depots is Rs39.27 billion, the estimated cost of utilities in the project is Rs4.2 billion,” he added.

He said the per kilometre cost of the service is Rs2 billion and every passenger would have to pay Rs25 to Rs50 as fare,  as the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government would not pay any subsidy in order to make it a self-sustainable bus service that would generate its own expenditure.

District Nazim Arbab Asim, who is also the CEO of the mega project, said this project would help reduce the transport problem of the city and nearly half million people would be able to use the service on a daily basis.

“The service will also be very helpful in reducing the traffic problems as citizens will prefer to use the BRT for transportation instead of the personal cars,” he said.



The opposition leader from the ANP Saeed Zahir criticised the bus service and said the fare was much higher than the Metro Bus of Lahore. “A poor man who earns 200 daily will not be able to pay Rs50 fare,” he said.

During his speech, Reham Dil Khan of the PML-N asked as to who would be responsible to make the mega project transparent. He said corruption cases had emerged during the tenure of the PTI led provincial government.

The district councilors applauded the mega project as the improved transport system would help in encouraging economic activities in the provincial capital.