BRT at last!

After much delay, the flagship mass transit project for Peshawar, the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has opened its doors for the public. Prime Minister Imran Khan, who inaugurated the project and has long been a staunch opponent of mega show-case projects — using the three metro bus projects built in neighbouring Punjab by their opponent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to malign them — admitted that he was ‘wrong’ to oppose the BRT in Peshawar and hoped that it would bring about a change in the city.

And this was evident in how people queued up at the ticket offices at the automated bus stations to get their pass for the ride. One passenger, who had previously travelled on a similar project in Bahrain, said that his dream of travelling on an air conditioned bus on a hot day in Peshawar with modern facilities had been fulfilled. What sets the BRT apart from some of the other mass transit projects in the country is that it covers most parts of the city through multiple feeder routes rather than just a single, linear track.

The success of the four major bus services in major metropolises of Pakistan is for everyone to see. There is hardly any major city in the world which does not have a mass transit system and such facilities are counted as fundamental needs. And for densely populated cities of our region, they can be indispensable for improving intra-city communication. Hence, one can only wonder why the largest city of the country and its proverbial financial hub is left to the mercy of mafias operating rusted buses.

For long, opponents have used the BRT as a stick to beat the ruling PTI. Launched in October 2017 with April 2018 slated as the completion date, the bus project took nearly three years to complete. Its prolonged construction remained a source of embarrassment for PTI leaders and supporters. There are also concerns about the future of those who for decades have operated a rudimentary public transport system in the city. However, answers to some genuine concerns raised by detractors and opponents must not take away from what is truly a revolution for a major city of the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2020.

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