ISLAMABAD: The city managers on Monday decided to start the operation of metro buses on five new routes in Islamabad.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by CDA Chairman Mohammad Ali Randhawa. The meeting approved the five routes and gave the go-head signal to the concerned wing to launch the operations in coming days.

“Today, the meeting approved new routes and gave us a go ahead. We will start operations within two weeks,” said a participant of the meeting.

The new routes are: Aabpara to Tramri via Park Road, expansion of Blue Line from Gulberg stop on Islamabad Expressway to GT Road, Police Lines to I sectors (1-9, I-10, I-11) till Faizabad, Police Lines to D-12 Shah Allah Ditta via G-10, G-11, F-10 F-11 and from 26 number to B-17.

Ridership on four routesis around 21,000 with Pims-Bari Imam and QAU route showing highest number of travellers, meeting told

In addition to the Green and Blue lines, electric buses are already plying on four other routes: from Pims, Kohnoor Mill to Faizabad, Pims to F-7 via Faisal Mosque and Pims to Quaid-i-Azam University.

The meeting was told that ridership on these four routes was around 21,000 and the route from Pims to Bari Imam and Quaid-i-Azam University had the highest number of ridership.

A few months ago, the CDA had started operation of electric buses on the four routes. As many as 160 buses, which are the property of CDA’s contractor National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC), are available for Islamabad. Out of these, 48 buses are already in operation and 70 more will be operated on five new routes. Therefore, in the third phase, the remaining 42 buses will start operation as well.

According to an agreement, CDA pays Rs306 to Rs331 per km to the contractor as the fare besides logistic support such as bus stops, charging points and routes.

As per CDA’s claim, the buses arrive on their stops after every 10 minutes, but there are no proper stops and a watch system for passengers to know the actual timing of the vehicles.

“There should be a proper system so that people could get real time information for the arrival of buses,” said an official.

The CDA has set up six charging stations at Convention Centre and recently 10 more were set up at H-9 while officials said 20 charging stations will be set up at Zero Point in the third phase when the depot will be set up there.

Meanwhile, a press release issued by CDA on Monday stated that the meeting on Metro Bus Service and feeder electric bus operations was attended by the member planning, member engineering and other concerned officers.

“The meeting included a detailed discussion on the operation of the metro and feeder electric buses. The proposals for optimising existing routes and introducing new ones were reviewed. Additionally, strategies for better cost management and gradually reducing reliance on subsidies were discussed.”

It said that the CDA chief directed to develop a comprehensive plan to minimise subsidies while maintaining high standards of public service.

“The performance of current operating routes for Metro and feeder buses was also evaluated in detail. Chairman CDA directed that these routes be further improved to enhance operational efficiency while reducing the expenditure,” it said.

To modernise public transportation in the capital, discussions were also held on integrating electric buses into the city’s transport system. The meeting focused on establishing charging infrastructure at various locations in Islamabad to support electric buses. This initiative aims to make the city’s transport system more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2024