Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Friday asked the Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA) to support the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in operationalising the Metro Bus Service (MBS) track from Peshawar Morr in Sector G-9 to Islamabad International Airport.
Presently, there is no mass transit service for the airport and people have to pay more than Rs1,000 in the day and over Rs2,000 at night for the one-way commute to the airport.
After midnight, taxi drivers can demand as much as Rs5,000 to Rs7,000 for taking passengers to the airport. Chairing the meeting of a committee that was constituted to finalise the arrangements for making the project operational, the finance minister urged the Punjab government to provide the requisite number of buses and technical know-how until CDA establishes its own fully functional Mass Transit Authority along with all the allied infrastructure and wherewithal.
The MBS operates under the Punjab government.
A sub-committee headed by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman was constituted to finalise the arrangements between CDA and the Punjab government for running buses on the newly constructed MBS track.
Earlier, CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed emphasised the need to operationalise the corridor for providing a comfortable, safe and secure transportation facility to the commuters in the capital city.
He informed the meeting that the cabinet had already approved the formation of the Capital Mass Transit Authority (CMTA) to run the MBS from Peshawar Morr to IIA.
However, CDA required support from the Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA) in the form of buses and technical know-how to make the corridor operational immediately.
Accordingly, the CDA requested PMTA to provide the buses to operationalise the newly constructed Metro-bus Corridor until CMTA becomes fully functional.
The Chief Secretary Punjab joined the meeting through a video link
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