Eco-Friendly Electric Buses and Green Bus Depots In the first phase, the purchase and delivery of 27 electric buses from China for Lahore has been completed and electric buses will be operated in Lahore from February 15, 2025. After this, work is underway to purchase 500 eco-friendly electric buses in the second phase. The cabinet has already approved the eco-friendly buses. Eco-friendly buses will be operated in the 5 major cities of Punjab, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur. 248 buses have been allocated for Lahore, 86 for Faisalabad, 63 for Rawalpindi, 69 for Multan and 34 for Bahawalpur. Discussions are underway with companies from several countries, including China, for the project of 500 eco-friendly buses.
State-of-the-art bus depots will also be built in all five cities for eco-friendly buses. Work is underway on the first green bus depot, which will be fully powered by solar energy, in Green Town, Lahore. The bus depot being built for electric buses will generate 1.2 megawatts of solar energy, which will be used to charge the buses. Approval has also been given to build bus depots in Multan, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Bahawalpur. A budget of Rs 49.5 billion has been allocated for the infrastructure of 500 eco-friendly buses and bus depots.
Murree Rail Link Tourist Glass Train Project
Murree Rail Link Project is a project to run a glass train from Rawalpindi to Murree and for this, a special working group consisting of several departments has been formed which is working on the initial stages and various studies. Advertisements were also given in international newspapers in October to hire the services of a consultancy firm for this project. The last date for submission of online EOI documents for companies was set as November 11. 8 companies have shown their interest to provide consultancy services. Work is underway on the technical aspects of Murree Rail Link Tourist Glass Train. The final deadline for completing the study of this project and submitting proposals was given by April 2025.
Feasibility Study for New Mass Transit System for Lahore
Several feasibility studies have been conducted in the past on a new mass transit system for Lahore by the LDA and other agencies. PMA, RUDA, Punjab Transport Company etc. are working to overcome the transport challenges of Lahore. The Punjab Mass Transit Authority meeting decided that before going for the next feasibility study, both PMA and LDA should hold comprehensive consultations with NESPAK and frame a suitable PC-2 after looking at the pool of data already available. On July 31, PMA and NESPAK organized a ‘Lahore Transport Week’ seminar in which the topics of transportation issues of Lahore were discussed. The Punjab Mass Transit Authority in its 27th meeting held on 20.08.2024 decided that the current consultant, M/s NESPAK proceed with already assigned work and achieve all the milestones on the timelines. Chief Minister directed postpone the ADP scheme until the results and recommendations of the ongoing NESPAK study are received.
Interest-free Bikes Scheme for Students (Sawari se Khudmuktari)
To facilitate students a great initiative was taken by the CM Punjab and now the first time in the history of Pakistan, Electric and Petrol Bikes are providing to them. In the first phase, under this scheme, 20,000 bikes were to be provided to degree college and university level students in the first phase on two-year installments. The minimum installment amount has been kept at Rs. 5,000 per month. Scheme included 19,000 petrol bikes and 1,000 electric bikes. 11,676 petrol bikes were allocated for boys and 7,324 for girls. Similarly, a quota of 700 electric bikes was kept for boys and 300 electric bikes for girls. Students of degree colleges and universities located in only five cities of Punjab (Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur) were eligible for electric bikes. About 190,000 students registered. Of these registered students, more than 72,000 students applied for the scheme. 57,370 applications were received for petrol bikes while 15,270 for electric bikes. A list of 20,000 successful candidates was released after e-balloting on May 10, 2024. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, seeing the great interest of girls in e-bikes, announced to provide bikes to all 8,200 students who had applied for e-bikes. In the first phase, the number of bikes has been increased from 20,000 to 27,200. All bikes are being provided by the Bank of Punjab on interest-free and easy installments. In the bike scheme, students have to deposit only 25,000 as an advance, while the government is paying about half of the remaining amount of the advance. Regular supply of bikes has started from July 11, 2024. Bikes are being provided in phases to students who meet the basic conditions. Bank of Punjab has so far approved bike loans for more than 19,000 students. Bikes have been delivered to more than 10,100 students and deliveries are ongoing on a daily basis. Out of 19,000 petrol bikes, delivery of more than 7,000 bikes has been completed. Delivery of about 3,000 electric bikes has also been completed. Work is underway to deliver another 5,500 electric bikes. On the orders of the Chief Minister of Punjab, free bikes are being provided to orphaned students who apply for the bike scheme. Students who have passed the balloting for the bike scheme but are not showing interest in the scheme will be replaced by new students from the waiting list. There are more than 13,000 students on the waiting list. A subsidy of Rs. 2.6 billion has been provided for the bike scheme.
E-Taxi Scheme
On the instructions of Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the e-taxi scheme is being launched in major cities of Punjab including Lahore. The aim of the scheme is to provide employment to unemployed people and provide affordable and quality travel facilities to the public. The e-taxi will be provided through an APP-based service and the entire system will be digital. Several domestic and foreign companies have shown interest in this scheme. The formal inauguration of this project is expected after Ramadan.
Vehicles Inspection Unit (VIU)
The Transport Department has established a Vehicles Inspection Unit to check smog and smoke emitting vehicles. In December, 15 new vehicles equipped with modern equipment were also provided to the Vehicles Inspection Unit, which is used to inspect vehicles on the spot in Lahore. The Vehicles Inspection Unit also checks the fitness of vehicles on the spot and fines are also imposed for violations. The fitness certificate of vehicles will also be checked under the Vehicles Inspection Unit in the future.
The Transport and Mass Transit Department, continuing its grand operation in the year 2024, inspected more than five lakh vehicles and took strict action against violations. During this, fines of more than Rs 200 million were imposed for smog emitting vehicles, overloading, overcharging and other violations.
Punjab Road Safety Authority
Every year, thousands of valuable lives in Pakistan become victims of traffic accidents. As a result, the Punjab government took important steps and set up the first Punjab Road Safety Authority under the Transport Department which will take steps not only to prevent roads but also to prevent traffic accidents on these roads. A huge effort in the same series was made on January 30 and the speed of the motorcycle in Punjab has been fixed at 60 km per hour as reports say that motorcycles and small vehicles are the most vulnerable to accidents. The cause of life damage is also the highest. It is expected that the road safety authority will reduce the accidents significantly and that the financial loss will also be reduced.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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