E-buses to hit the road in 91 Punjab tehsils

Govt targets 5,000 vehicles over five years

LAHORE:

The Punjab government has approved the expansion of its electric bus service to 91 tehsils, with deployment of 1,500 buses planned from January 2027 as part of a plan to run 5,000 electric buses across the province over the next five years.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif approved the tehsil-level expansion while chairing a meeting of the Transport and Mass Transit Department in Lahore. The government has set a target of operating 3,000 electric buses across the province by June and completing the first phase of the service by September.

The first batch of buses for the tehsil-level service is expected to arrive in Lahore in January.

The government has also approved additional buses for several districts, while Punjab has begun assembling electric buses locally.

According to the plan, 169 buses will be deployed in nine tehsils of Multan, 87 in four tehsils of Sahiwal, 63 in 10 tehsils of Dera Ghazi Khan, 215 in 11 tehsils of Bahawalpur, 202 in 12 tehsils of Faisalabad and 198 in 14 tehsils of Sargodha.

Another 125 buses have been allocated for seven tehsils of Gujranwala, 122 for eight tehsils of Gujrat and 219 for 16 tehsils of Rawalpindi.

The government said 612 electric buses were operating in various districts, providing transport to hundreds of thousands of citizens daily. Another 192 buses, including those for Multan and other districts, are expected to become operational in a few days.

The chief minister said 189 new buses were ready for launch, while another 488 were expected to arrive from China later this month.

The expansion comes as the provincial government seeks to increase public transport capacity amid growing demand.

In April, it had also considered leasing additional buses, including an initial rollout of 1,000 non-air-conditioned buses to address gaps in public transport capacity.

According to Punjab Mass Transit Authority estimates, nearly 900,000 passengers benefited daily from the public transport facility, including more than 300,000 Orange Line commuters, around 140,000 Metrobus users and hundreds of thousands using feeder and electric bus services in different districts.

Work on mass transit systems in Faisalabad and Gujranwala is progressing rapidly.

A project for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of 25 stations of the Lahore Metrobus service is also under way.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz also expressed deep grief over the death of a minor girl who was hit by a Green Bus in Rawalpindi and sought a report from the divisional commissioner. The CM said those responsible for the death would be brought to justice.

According to a news release, the chief minister has also directed authorities to ensure effective pre-emptive measures ahead of the smog season expected to begin in November. She ordered that all sources contributing to the spread of air pollution be controlled.

Meteorological experts said that slight fluctuations in the air quality index in Lahore, Faisalabad, Rahim Yar Khan and other districts of Punjab occurred due to changes in the direction of strong winds blowing from India.

They said rainfall expected in Lahore next week could help reduce air pollution. The implementation of all standard operating procedures (SOPs) introduced during last year's smog season has been tightened.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz directed the Punjab administration and departments to ensure the disposal of crop residue through modern machinery and prevent its burning. She also ordered effective measures to eliminate the risks posed by burning plastic and the use of plastic-based products.