Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has ordered the provision of more electric buses for the districts in South Punjab.
Chairing a meeting in which the transport department briefed her on its projects and the progress made on the electric bus project was reviewed, the chief minister said the remote areas should be given priority in the provision of electric buses.
She emphasised, "The culture of always giving every new facility to big cities must be changed. We will bring rural areas at par with the major cities."
She ordered that 240 electric buses should be given on a priority basis to 24 districts. In the first phase, the 240 e-buses will be provided to relatively underdeveloped districts.
Between August and October, 500 e-buses will be provided for Lahore, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Multan and Rawalpindi. From November to December, 600 additional electric buses will arrive in Punjab.
The chief minister highlighted, "Under the Punjab Clean Air Programme, 400 electric buses will be provided to Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Kasur and Lahore."
A detailed review was conducted of the Gujranwala Bus Rapid Transit project. In order to connect the entire city and suburban areas, 80 feeder buses will be launched. On the 22km-long BRT system from Rahwali to Eminabad, 28 stations will be established.
A proposal to extend the Gujranwala BRT route was also reviewed. The BRT system will provide two-way transportation after every eight minutes.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif issued directives that traffic along the Gujranwala BRT route should be managed through a smart traffic control solution. For this project, four electric bus depots will be established in Gujranwala.
In the meeting, progress on the Orange Line and Red Line transport systems in Faisalabad was also reviewed.
The Red Line will be 23.4km long, with 24 stations, and is expected to transport more than 185,000 passengers daily. The Orange Line will be 29km long, with 21 stations, and is expected to transport over 111,000 passengers daily.
On the chief minister's instruction, the route from the FIEDMC to Salami Chowk has been included in the project.
The chief minister directed the transport department to immediately start all public welfare projects, and said the e-bus routes should be determined while keeping in view the public commuting needs.
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