Commuters scramble to get onto a crowded bus. PHOTO: TARIQ HASSAN/EXPRESS
Tempers flared at several Metro Bus Service (MBS) stations due to overcrowding on Monday, prompting scuffles and delays.
Many people stayed on buses for several rounds of the 27-kilometre MBS route, while the number of buses was also not at full strength.
The much-trumpeted bus service, launched on Sunday and free for the first four weeks, drew many users apparently there for a ride to check out the buses, rather than actually go anywhere. By noon, several buses were so packed they were not stopping at stations to take on new riders.
Meanwhile, claims by the city’s transport managers that buses would run every three minutes were proved hollow, as intervals of 15-20 minutes were reported between buses.
Further, women passengers were harassed on several buses. Unlike most buses in the province, there is no separate section for women on the articulated MBS buses.
The buses were boarded by a large number of users at Shahdra and Nishter Colony in the morning. They stayed on the buses for a long time and the vehicles got more and more crowded.
Officials at the Ichhra and Gaddafi Stadium bus stations said that the buses could not stop for new passengers as the ones inside were refusing to leave. When the doors opened, few came out while a dozen more wanted to board. They said that they had communicated the messy situation to the control room and had sought more guards.
Student Muhammad Abbas, who ended up in scuffling with MBS station officers at Gaddafi Stadium, said that he had been waiting for an hour. “I have no choice but to wait for these buses as the other public transport routes have been altered for the MBS,” he said.
Syed Adil Shah from Cantonment and his cousin Muhammad Shahzeb, from Karachi, had planned to travel on the bus. “We waited more than 40 minutes for the bus to arrive. Several buses didn’t stop at the station. We had to walk home,” said Shah.
Talha, a student and a resident of DHA, also got stuck at the Gaddafi Stadium stop. He said that the service shouldn’t have been made free for the first four weeks, as the facility was just being abused.
MBS General Manager Uzair Shah, speaking to The Express Tribune, said that the events of the day were “a well-planned conspiracy to make the service fail”.
He said that people had “occupied” the buses and were not getting off. “Several brawls have been reported,” he said.
He said a plan was being worked on to resolve the situation, but did not elaborate. Asked if they would drop the idea of making the service free for one month, he said that this was a decision for the Punjab government, as it had announced the free service.
Shah said that 38 of the 45 MBS buses were in service on Monday, with seven sent in for minor repairs as their doors had been damaged. He said the windows of several buses were damaged by users on Monday.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 12th, 2013.
COMMENTS (108)
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Services are good but we need to use them properly.
Before starting such these types of traveling in the modern buses on cheap fares there is a need of the new chapters must be added in the courses from school to university level in Pakistan thru which you could educate that how to travel in the modern buses like the civilized and well-cultured people and nations then start such these types of projects in Pakistan.Otherwise this is all wastage of money and destruction of modern buses because Pakistani nation doesn't deserve such these types of modern traveling facilities without proper education and as far as Daewoo Bus Service Pakistan is concerned then in Daewoo buses only those can travel who can afford high fares and whose are educated,civilized,well-mannered and well-cultured....
This only further proves out mentality of the public, ignorant in considerate and lazy to help a system to work to improve their lives. The rest of the world and most other 3rd world countries have moved we in Pakistan are still stuck in this outrageous behavior! Our culture needs a drastic change if we want to join the civilized world.
I hope that with passage of time we will learn to coexist in the bus AMD have respect for comfort of fellow passengers.
This Nation doesn't deserve these types of projects.
every new service like this causes a little chaos in the beginning. But making it free for a month is a actually not a smart decision, they should have made it free for say students or women. Being free results in lot of joyriders. a commuter who is in a hurry to reach his or her workplace would avoid experimenting with a completely new service, especially when it is full of joyriders. and in our region where people grew up pushing their way through every aspect of life, it takes time to actually be disciplined enough for things like waiting and making ques. still 45 buses in total is a small number for a big city like Lahore. . great idea if poorly implemented can easily result in failure. . delhi alone has more than 3000 buses owned by Delhi Transport corporation(as per their website), and add another 2000 state approved buses and this is when almost the entire east delhi, most of south delhi and one entire side of western and northern side of delhi are covered by the metro, and they are considered inadequate in peak hours even by the state authority. Still considering the entire Pakistan Railway is struggling to run, expecting a rail based system in pakistan is far fetched.
@ Mohsin - That explains the financial misery we are in thanks to our government's financial strategies. This issue would have been sorted in one day with charging minimum fare of Rs. 10 and free riders would have avoided the buses :)
The only thing that really saddens me in this whole article. Even if there arent any separate section, why arent the female passengers free enough to ride comfortably. Ugh.
I cannot believ people can be so negative. Can you not see that they tried their level best and actually are trying to help Pakistan? The metro bus is something which can help pakistan greatly, it's the first of its kind in Pakistan and right now it's a novelty for lahoris. I cannot believe any news paper could put such a biased and predujiced article. There are going to be teething problems, it's an obvious thing. Seriously, hate and negativity have become rampant.
The new bus service establishes the technological superiority of our country. The engines run on water instead of petrol. This is the reason for initial free rides as the running of service is not costing us anything. Also the advertisement displayed in the buses is raising enough revenue to pay for peripheral costs like electricity bills for elevators. Did you know that our scientists have also arranged generators that run on water and will be installed at all bus stops soon. The tyres of busses have hidden technology as their friction on road will generate electricity. This will be harnessed through special conductors placed strategically in road and will be transmitted free of cost to adjoining areas to the new road. To promote the service further the government will be providing a free meal to all passengers like in airlines. Since there were limited number of food packages available the PIA flight to muscat was tampered with leading to landing gear+engine failure and crash but now there will be enough food meals for all commuters on bus. You must also have noted the TV displays on all seats. Only made in Pakistan movies will be shown here thus re-popularizing the paki film industry among the masses. The outputs and outcomes are manyfold 1. New bus service 2. Improved infrastucture 3. Revitalising film industry 4. Testing new (water engine) technology 5. Feeding the nation 6. Population control 7. Resolving power (electricity) shortage 8. Wifi internet service to the nation
Lahore has already been a maze of dug up roads and inefficient alternative routes, and the citizens have been subjected to extreme inconvenience for the last one year due to the construction of the Metro Bus Service. Now Model Town is about to go the same way. The concerns of the residents of Model Town must be addressed and, if any objections arise, carefully looked into. If Model Town Society fails to reach a consensus with those who live there, it is advised that all plans for this commercialisation be dropped. There is a huge probability that if such ill-advised plans are allowed to go ahead, the residents could take their grievances to court and, if recent cases are anything to go by, the superior courts are inclined towards protecting the environment from dastardly plans to ruin it. There has to be some appropriate urban planning, with the citizens fully consulted and made to feel as though they matter. Model Town Society should remember this.
@Truth For Toronto you can think whatever you want. At least they're trying to do something for the country. Even if they are doing it for support and popularity, they are doing something useful! Our presidents haven't yet been able to do something like this, or thought of so.
@DeshiManukh: Hi there, I only commented on the picture which showed people jumping on to the high platform. Of course if there are proper platforms with regulated exit and entry and the doors closing between stops it would be fine.
well , free travel is ok, but only if nobody is allowed to take more than 1 round of the entire route. After all, whats the point in sitting in the bus for rounds and rounds...
they are just buses.
@Vinod: How many of big ticket projects succeeded in India. Manufacturing an indeginous aircraft, tanks despite all imported components, you could not complete anything., Your DRDO is a world laughing stock. Why dont you look into your own backyard and then come and mock pakistanis.
@Udaya Bose: Most busways, including the Lahore one, I think, run on special roads separated from regular roads with the rest of the traffic. The busway stops are like train stations with high platforms, so the doors are higher. Normally, people are not supposed to be able to get in between stops, and the doors are supposed to be closed between stops, just like a Metro train.
@Salman: my dear what about the motorway?
The buses are only free for the first month to provide commuters with an incentive to try them out, after which a commercially viable ticket fee will be charged since the system will be operated privately. Disappointing- and amusing- though the commotion on the first day was, I think it was to be expected. The novelty will soon wear off and the bus rapid transit system will just be a useful part of Lahore's transport infrastructure for the average commuter.
Nothing is free in life. A person comes in to this world with a cost and dies with a cost. Drop the free rides and everything will be all good. We some days act worse then animals. I bet birds and animals are more civilized in Lahore then humans. I thought Muslims were to have more Sabr/patience in them.
Very sad to see this kind of state in a city dear to a lot of people and then how people manipulate the system and the local population.
@ Moiz: the comment seems to be from some parochial having personal grudge against solidarity of Pakistan? While the 11million population of the province comprises 63% of Pakistan, yet the domicile-holders have just 50% quota in jobs- sacrificing the rest of 13% to other provinces. Which province contributes most in earning foreign exchange for Pakistan through the exports of cotton and textile made ups? The elected leadership of the province has sacrificed additional resources from the federal divisible pool but agreed to the 2nd NFC Award (something that the military dictator failed to achieve) passing on greater share to the smaller provinces. While the daily news are full of sad news including target killings & extortions in Karachi, sectarian killings & forced disappearances in Balochistan, bomb explosions in KPK and drone attacks on FATA... it is heartening for Pakistanis around the world to read good news like inauguration of free hospitals, Danish schools, IT labs, Laptops to educated youth... Metro Bus etc at least somewhere in Pakistan that All Pakistanis should be proud of!
They should place guides to help and discipline people. Without enforced discipline mass transits tend to be a ruckus everywhere.
@Hina:
Why? Did they offer it at the Raiwand palace?
How about three day free stay at new Bilawal's house in Lahore?
With an attitude like this....and our behavior towards any thing given to us for our own betterment.....we deserve to be called STUPID MANIACS!!!!!
what was the point of MBS except vote-gaining tactic??
@TightPatloon: Dreaming, that is all you people can do.
@Moiz Hussain:
Thank you for the links. I will study those.
Agree on you on one point though. Laptops, roads and buses are the easy way to gain votes. Cause that is kind of progress which is easy to spot. So Punjab is clearly trying to buy fake votes by polishing the surface and ignoring the basiscs.
@Munna:
Read the excerpt from this blog:
"In these hard economic times, under the PPP government, it is Punjab that is the worst performing province.
The province’s annual average growth rate of 2.5% between 2007 and 2011 lagged far behind the 3.4% for the rest of Pakistan, according to the Lahore-based Institute of Public Policy (IPP). Over 83% of the Rs783 billion Punjab budget for the current year will be financed by federal transfers and 12% by provincial tax revenue.
The more worrying factor is that Punjab is generating very little revenue of its own and the provincial government has completely failed to address this problem, in fact it is making it worse by spending billions on projects which will further strain the treasury."
http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/16050/the-economics-behind-the-lahore-metro-bus-service/
Above figures are quoted from the IPP study report.
Apart from this, the other immature and myopic schemes and projects that has consumed millions from the federal and provincial treasury just for personal political mileage are:
Laptop Schemes: Now why on earth would you want to distribute laptops when you don't even have basic infrastructure for schools and colleges
Youth Festivals: A race to break trivial world records which did not amount to any international headlines whatsoever. Neither have they brought the country any glory or fame. Again, if the same money would have been invested in the training and development of different sports in Punjab, we could have at least hoped for a medal in the next Olympics.
@Moiz Hussain:
Last time i checked Panjab was providing food to rest of the country? And why would KP be envious on Panjab (and Sindh). One third of KP's workforce have left for Panjab and Sindh and taking their jobs. While broke afghan citizens keep eating up KP.
Haha! Bus di v bus karva ti :D
Give them a ladder there's enough space on the roof :sitting on the bus roof like a boss;
It is a financial tragedy. Nothing less than that
@PL: yes
It ought not to be free and only in a month i guess, Buses will reach to their end. Its not abroad that masses will wait for their turns,A Vaunted Bus results a crap.
Dear Pakistani Friends,
It seems the intention of the Punjab government was not bad but it was the common man who misused the decision of the Government. Hence, it is the common man who should be held responsible for the mess. Moreover there are reports that on the very fast day 6 or more buses were sent for repairs and windows of some buses were damaged. If that is the case, what I feel is that the Punjab Government should seriously reconsider its decision and revoke the free ride condition otherwise it may be safely considered that by the month of March 2013, all the buses will be in a very bad shape thereby defeating the very purpose for which the MCB was launched, also draining the state exchequer since huge sum of money will be required to repair the buses will zero income to show.
The Dollar is haunting us at 100 and our CM Punjab wants to give us free rides. This is exactly why Punjab has hit the lowest on its revenue generation. This province is becoming a strong liability on other provinces, eating out valuable resources without contributing substantial to the economy of the country.
This is exactly why Baluchistan and KPK are envious and have built up frustrations against the establishment and Punjab especially for exploiting their resources for their personal needs.
I so wish I could be happy for such a feat, but after knowing all the background and the context of this mega-project, I can only pray for its success - now that the money has been spent and things cannot revery back - this project should at least contribute to the revenue for the province now and not become a huge liability on us.
lohr lohr ha
Enthusiasm and response of public shows how big and how versatile is this project.Same thing happened to the opening of motorway where dacoits made it their play ground and opponent of motorway made it a point to criticse NS.Where are the dacoits while motorway is still there working like a magnificient institution.MBS will definetely work and in few days fever of excitement will die down.ET this not your standard!
An ill planned initiative geared just towards getting votes and not the welfare of people. You just want to bring sophisticated hardware. It would have been a lot better if the money had been spent on traffic engineering and educating masses about trafic discipline the way it is practiced in western countries.
I say, this is another proof of mismanagement by Punjab government. Were they not knowing how public is going to react? Immediately, it should no longer be made free. So atleast "muft ka safr krney waley farigh tareen log" may not travel over it.
@Fahad Khalil: thats the thing...people should have been educated to take them out of this jahalat instead of spending over 30 billion on a stupid bus service made for votes!
hahahaha... we dont deserve such a sophisticated thing. Lol
This is indeed a visionary project necessary for all mega cities in the world. I have travelled through mass transit in Japan, Malaysia, Turkey, UK and even India. These projects are indespensable to move millions of people every day, reduce congestion on roads, reduce fuel cost, reduce environmental pollution and multiplicative economic benefits in the form of time & money. I remember there was similar hue & cry by a few critics when Motorway was being constructed during 1990s. But the economic benefit of Motorway was not understood by them. General Musharraf raised US$500 Million through issuance of sukuks against the same Motorway (M-2). Living abroad, I desire to visit Pakistan and will definitely travel by Metro!!!
Metro services are meant for civilised countries only.
Awww please lets give it time. Its just the first few days for this metro project. there are bound to be teething troubles. I think this project needs more supoprt and not criticism.
Last year I went to Delhi, their metro train system was similarly jam packed, all throughout the day. Mainly cause of the large number of people using the bus system. However, one thing to note was that the people we VERY courteous towards other passengers, specially women. I had females in the group with me, and they all were suprised to see how nice the men were who got up to give them their seats.
Lahori people just need a one month basic course in civic behaviour and then be given all these facilities.
I am happy for this project though, hoping to see similar systems in other cities too.
Trust the Government of Punjab to get the capacity estimates wrong.
It must not be free
for all who are criticizing the project...first make a better one and then talk... Things will settle soon, those who can make the project also know how to handle the illiterate guys... this project is a miracle to the people of Pakistan... Salute to SS for completing it within time and cost...
The nation is not used to travelling on metro bus. Same happens in Istanbul, the buses are always crowded. When a bus comes, no one gets off, but many people are standing to get on the bus. But, as people are used to it, they keep calm and manage the situation. Infact, this happens during rush hour in almost all major mass transit systems of the world.
So, keep calm Pakistani brothers.
Do not make it free.......at least charge a rupee and then see who comes for the ride
This is Imran kahn and PTI responsible for such behaviour of people of Pakistan. Why they not teach discipline to there young followers?? As most of the people are young here and they doing all that to degraded the PML-N efforts for people.
@Vinod: Yup. They should've perhaps sought your help to make the project successful? Get off your high horse. Indiscipline is endemic to the South Asian population. It's as simple as that. Give it some time and get rid of the free 4 weeks period, and everything should be back to normal.
Hence, proved.
We need education first to make nation civilized.
now wht can NS and SS do???
hahhahahahahahahhahaahahahhahahahahaahahahahhahahhahah
I can only Laugh at it.
I was expecting the same situation from this Project. Don`t Worry ppl after elections All the buses will be backed to the Service Centres. Due to Permanent Damages by being abused. and from service centres their parts will be stolen one by one. and there will be no name of MBS in coming years, However the MBS route which was developed by investing billions of rupees, the same route will be used for Qinchi (chin-chi) in the future. :)
What a Waste of Rs. 40 billion..only for an election campaign
I wish you could have created atleast 1000 jobs with this money, it will be the better option.
Why they made it free is beyound my understanding. The handsome fare shall be taken so that the facility will operate in long basis. Take atleast 100 Rs in few months.
Now start some Education service.
@Billoo Bhaya: Get a life.
A very interesting concept but the footboard seems to be very high. How are women, children and the elderly going to climb in?
Cool down guys, this is the first mass-transit project in Pakistan and a novelty for most Lahoris, things will settle down in a few days. Simple solution, put a price on the service and the joy riders will stop crowding in.
Teach the people rather than blaming the bus service or Punjab government. This mob mentality needs to be regulated.
@TightPatloon: " Lahore will soon become London of the east with these buses" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ What about London becoming the Lahore of the West?
Relax guys, its nothing new......This sort of reposnse also happened in Dubai on its first few days of the launch of Metro. Although it was not free,people were having joy rides to just get a look & feel of it & train were jammed packed because they were going no where !....
what a beautifull bus service
Now this Project supporters realize how important it is to educate and provide good healthy conditions to your public. Alas mental health and lack of education or quality of education has been demonstrated by ppl of lahore.
@John the Baptist: The Metro Bus Service will prove as successful as the Motorways because the people need and appreciate infrastructure projects. Give the project just one year and you will see how it transforms Lahore. Remember all the negativity about the Motorways?
South Asian cities can learn from each other. Similar crowds and joyriders turned up at the Delhi Metro train inauguration, but luckily, there were no free rides, and special women's coaches were set up. Otherwise, the culture of Delhi and Lahore crowds is virtually the same. One example of a successful busway I have seen is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For crowded South Asian cities, I think a Metro rail would be better. As an example of a white elephant, I remember the Delhi circular railway set up by Indira Gandhi for the 1984 Asian Games, whose empty coaches became the haunts of the drug addicts after the Games ended. The train service became useless, as it only connected the stadia and the Games Village.
@TightPatloon: Yeah and I will become president of America, LOL.
There are some who do not understand that making these services available to the public just months before the election is proof of the power schemes that PML-N is trying. It upsetting to see that our people are easily bribed by such petty maneuvers of these corrupt parties. I am not saying the metro bus service is a bad thing. It is excellent. But the fact that PML-N starts to suddenly shine at the time of elections is curious. They dont seem to have done anything but bash Zardari these last few years and suddenly they come up with the laptop scheme when Imran Khan rocked the youth of lahore in his rally. The scheme back fired of them then. I am pretty sure this MBS scheme will also back fire on them soon enough.
Be thankful that something has fallen out of the mouths of the thieves in charge.
Lahore will soon become London of the east with these buses.
The Sharifs are good at inventing fiascos..........freezing foreign currency accounts....yellow cab.......sasti roti...........nai roshni (or what was it?)..........laptop.........and now metro bus project..........let's see what's next. That's what happens to people looking for short cuts. But the people of Lahore, they'd still love this Showbaz (copyright, Rehman Malik or was it Kaira?) guy.
The service is not faulty its the people ! In London buses skip stops if the bus is over crowded! There is nothing wrong in that... the only mismanagement here is a months free travel, which will wreak havoc on these buses! The wear and tear will be within days.. these people do not deserve free travel... get oyster cards ! Should have hefty fines and travel police for people travelling free !
Commuters should have been imported from Turkey too. By the way did Istanbul government also allowed one month free service when this service was inaugurated there. Does any one know about it?
This reminds me of when the motorway was opened and was free for a while. Everyone took there cars on it, and most broke down!
And with this, it has been proven that we are from the Jungles.
It is nothing but a waste of public money like laptops and big gatherings making world records in qaddafi stadium.
Khaadim-e-aala love his praising and he already done enough marketting of this bus service.
WHEN you start something new and exclusive and the whole city wants to try it you charge DOUBLE rate. Not make ut free!
"Dark is the nation and insane the king-Andheri Nagari Chaupat Raja"
pakistanis!
We need some legendary leader who has the capacity to think belong next elections and set the things right for this country.....Do we have one in current political class??/?
@Final Solution Really? Do men harass women during tawaf too?
when you keep most of the people without education systematically for over 65 year...this is what they do....these clever politicians will never give free good education to people because this will not suit future of their kids who are kings in waiting....Hail our corrupt ruling elite and hail our stupid awam who vote them every time.....Change is what we need....
This simple shows that it is not metro-bus that pakistani needs, its education!
Since buses are free why should anyone not take free jhootas?
Will get better with time. Its justified that everyone wants to try it.
Yes, now we will proper and nobody can stop us to become a super power. Hats off to PMLN for providing us bus service in the 21st century. So what if it cost them $70 billion. Now Punjab govt don't need to spend money on education and health because these red buses will resolve all the problems. NAAAARA RAIWAND.
**I feel that this project will become a big failure like a white elephant.. Pakistan does not have a potential to create a decent sucessful project by itself.
I don't think people should let the bad behaviour of some people tarnish the overall project. Perhaps no free rides is the answer although it would have been nice during the introduction period. I think the Bus service system will prove a great addition to the transport system of Lahore once the glitches are fixed. This is always the case in the beginning. In a few years, the Bus Service will prove justas popular and useful as the Motorways I think.
honestly - this is great project, but unfortunately, our nation is practically Jahil and don't deserve this :(
whats new? We never had a transport problem. We just needed to tell drivers that all bikes on the left, all public transport on the left. cars on the right. follow lanes and bikes not to push between cars. That was all that was required. You can run a metro bus, elevated rail track, subway, anything...... all shall fail unless we learn discipline.
That's precisely why I was pessimistic towards this project. Planning is essential before you initiate any thing and PMLN clearly hasn't done that. Election gimmicks. I'm afraid it ain't last long.
Today I visited Faisalabad, Gujrat and regions of Gujar Khan and I can firmly say that PMLN is not going to win most of the seats from those regions as Focus on Lahore greatly hampered PMLN in many regions and even in Norther regions of Punjab I felt the presence of PPPP stronger than in the past while everybody was telling me that PMLN only exist in Lahore and in some parts of GT road only.
Zardari Sb. in town must have planned something last night
It is mortifying that our people continue to act in this shameless manner. If a metro bus has been arranged for their convenience, they should appreciate it instead of doing their best to damage it. Furthermore, authorities should have foreseen that this would've happened and not allowed passengers to board without a ticket. Separate sections for women or should've been allocated because that is the norm in Pakistan.
That's how long it takes for our civilized population to undo the masterpiece Shahbaz Sharif created. It's like handing over to a toddler an exotic house of cards to play with =D
Just watch this white elephant fall to pieces. All responsible for expensive folly should be tried and sent to jail to send a message that our nation's scarce resources cannot be wasted on the whims of vote buying idiots!
Typical pmln planning. Just get project delivered to get the photo op on day one. Who cares what happens after that!
Good planning. Will you take credit for this too, Chief Minister?
And all of the free rides are Sponsored by the Punjab Budget that is meant to be spent around Punjab and not in Lahore alone.
Dumb rulers and even dumber commuters. This is what comes of half-baked plans.
Hail Caesar shouted the Romans as he marched into Rome and sent the Republic scurrying. The Punjab CM saw himself as Caesar of Punjab, come to inaugurate the Metro Bus Service, costing over Rs.30B, by declaring it free. As Caesar says, "the die is cast" and the Punjabi citizens took that to mean Madar Pitar Azad. That's what happened to the buses. No one, not even a businessman like Sharif, should have made the service free. But then its not his money up for loot. What is that called?? Pre-poll dhandli.
So what was the business / service case for this metro bus service costing more than 30 billion?
Further, women passengers were harassed on several buses.
Such people are the ones who harasses women during Tawwaf too.
Salute Pakistani Qaum...
this reminds me of excitement everyone had on newly opened underpass in Karachi! People would drive into the underpass just to see how it looks like lol
Stupid management!
Big mistake to make this free.
It's a service and must be priced...