The fleet includes 30 hybrid and 50 electric buses
Staff Report
Karachi, Sindh
Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister, Justice (R) Maqbool Baqar, added another 80 buses to the People’s Bus Service fleet in a simple ceremony on Wednesday. The new buses include 30 hybrid and 50 electric vehicles.
With the addition of 80 new buses, the city’s fleet now comprises 300 buses, including 18 Pink Buses for women only.
The inauguration ceremony of adding a fleet of 80 buses in the Intra-city People’s Bus Service was held at the Mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
According to the Chief Minister, as of mid-2015, there were 3.6 million registered vehicles in Karachi, which is over 30 per cent of the national total. Private vehicles, mainly motorcycles and cars, make up about 84 per cent of the total number of registered vehicles.
He said that the growth rate for private vehicles is over four per cent, which means that there are now over 1000 new vehicles being added to the streets of Karachi each day.
Baqar pointed out that there were more than 12000 public vehicles, including buses, minibuses, and coaches, operating on 267 routes in the city. However, the number of buses has been declining steadily, and as of 2017, less than 5000 buses were serving fewer than 100 routes. He emphasized that a city as big as Karachi should have at least 15000 modern buses.
Also read: Sindh govt. to introduce Eco-Friendly Electric Taxis in Karachi
Owing to the lack of intra-city public transport, the Sindh government and NRTC signed an agreement in October 2021 for the supply, operation, and construction of the Sindh Intra-District People’s Bus Service Project, said the CM.
The Sindh Peoples Intra-District Project is a government-to-government (G2G) initiative between the Sindh government and NRTC. It was launched in June 2022 and is the first-ever Intra-City Public Transport Project operating in mixed traffic, especially in Karachi and other cities of Sindh, such as Larkana, Hyderabad, and Sukkur.
The Project is basically for the Public and is to be operated through the Public Private Partnership. The Project is designed to integrate state of the art bus operations model consisting of high-quality diesel hybrid bus service to meet the increasing urban transport demand in Metro Cities and contribute to the development of a sustainable transport system.
Secretary Transport Asad Zamin briefing the CM about the project said that currently 204 Buses are in operation on 11 routes in Karachi, while six buses are operating in Larkana, 12 in Hyderabad on two routes, and 10 in Sukkur.
Operation of the first Women-Exclusive Public Transport Service is already operating in the city with nine Pink Buses on route-01, and another nine Pink Buses on route-02.
50 electric buses: The Telephone Industry of Pakistan, a subsidiary of the National Radio Telecommunication Corporation, is already engaged in a flagship project with the Sindh government, and has submitted a proposal through its international partners to develop an eco-friendly Electric Vehicle System in the province.
Read more: Hyderabad Women Get Pink Bus Facility
The initiative is on the ‘Rent to Own’ model under which the Sindh government will pay nominal lease payments including the operational and capital costs for eight years. After completion of the lease period (8 years) the Buses will be handed over to the provincial government.
The caretaker cabinet has approved a pilot project comprising 50 environment-friendly pure electric buses to fulfil the previous commitments to formalize the contractual arrangements.
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