Local bus service to be started in Rawalpindi

RAWALPINDI: District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saqib Zafar has said that soon local bus service would be started in Rawalpindias VARAN urban transport company and one other transport companies have shown interest in re-launching urban transport service in the city after getting their buses repaired.

He said World Bank will provide a loan of Rs.150 million to five District Governments of the Punjab for improving services in Solid Waste Management, Water and Sanitation, and Urban Transport sectors which would help in providing better and improved services to the people in these sectors.

Rawalpindi City District Government would also be provided share from this loan by the Punjab Government and this loan would be utilized for improving landfill site, lifting of solid waste, improving transferring station, bus stand and incentives for commuters of CNG buses, he said DCO said that the loan being obtained from the World Bank would also be utilized for the improvement of Pirwedhai Bus Stand.

He informed that a loan of Rs.600,000 was demanded by the VARAN urban transport to get their buses repaired, but an amount of Rs. 400,000 would be provided to them for repair of their buses.

He said that along with the bus service, the wagon service already running on Murree Road and other routs would also be continued so that the citizens may avail sufficient facilities of transport.

He informed that daily 200 tons solid waste is being lifted from the city and carried to Transferring Station Rawat and there after it is shifted to land fill site near Villege Losar.

He said that the loan would also be utilized for installation of energy plant at landfill site to generate Electricity and benefit the local population which will also maintain the hygienic atmosphere in the area.

DCO informed that the Punjab Government would decide the volume and share of loan for city District GovernmentRawalpindi from the total amount of loan mentioned above.

CM Inaugurated Bus Rapid Transit System

Never saw him so active in the last three years ..... Its all because elections are near ..... 
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The chief minister also laid the foundation stone for the First Bus Rapid Transit System on Ferozepur Road. In the first phase of the project, 27 kilometres of dedicated bus lanes will be built from Gajju Mata to Shahdara.

He said that 15 kilometres of bus lanes will be built under the project by March. A Turkish firm is helping the government develop a modern bus transport system, he said. The Punjab government has also signed an agreement with a Turkish company in the solid waste management sector.

LTC Working for Students Fare

This shows that they are serious in letting the service go ............
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Lahore Transport Company (LTC) chairman Khawaja Ahmed Hassaan has constituted a team to interact with the heads of education institutions to generate awareness and identify elements among the student community responsible for disrupting public transport in the city.

Committee members have met with the principals of Gulberg College for Boys, Islamia College Civil Lines and Dayal Singh College, vice chancellor Punjab University and, Superior University. The committee is working on developing options for student fare concessions in consultation with the heads. Hassaan said, he hoped to announce a student fare scheme soon.

The LTC chairman told a programme review meeting that education institution heads would be held responsible for any incidents of hooliganism by their students. He said police and the LTC enforcement staff would provide security to the buses operating in the city.

The media, he added, had played a positive role in mobilising public opinion in favour of ensuring an efficient and affordable transport system in the city.

Hassaan also said he expected parents to play their role in making students appreciate the projects launched by the city government.

Transport Master Plan 2030: KMC

Keep making plans ..... from 2020, now its 2030 ......... suffering of the commuters will keep growing 
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KARACHI: Administrator, Karachi Municipal Corporation, Muhammad Hussain Syed has underlined the need of coordinated measures to solve transport problems in the mega city.

According to a statement issued here Tuesday, this he said in meeting with a delegation of Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA).

He said that the city administration is working on Transport Master Plan 2030, which was prepared in collaboration with JICA to improve transport system.

He said that the project, which kicked off last year, is currently in planning stage. Planning is divided in two phases and the work on Phase-I would be completed by the end of June this year. The second phase will further take two years to complete.

He said a Bus Transit System (BTS) or a Rail Transit System (RTS) or a combination of both is being planned for the city.

A detailed study concerning the site of the project is being carried out by a consultancy team from Japan and Pakistan at different corridors of the metropolis.

He hoped that after completion of these projects, transport problems of the city will be resolved and people will get better transport facilities.

Public Transport: Foton Buses may Resume Operations Today

Oh these students are no less than a Mafia .......... but LTC should come in and work out a concession for the students as they promise in the beginning 

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LAHORE: 

The Foton Bus Service remained suspended for a third day on Sunday, in protest at the vandalism of buses and beating and intimidation of drivers by college students.

Foton stopped running its buses on Friday after college students held up two buses and demanded to ride for free, thrashed the bus drivers and other crew members, vandalised the vehicles and even stole their money. This has happened several times since the service began in Lahore last month, including on its first day.

Students of public sector colleges have long used such tactics to reach an informal understanding with local transport companies that they will not pay for rides. However, the Chinese company was long wooed by the Punjab government to invest in public transport in the province and the company is putting pressure on local authorities to get the students to behave.

Lahore Transport Company (LTC) officials said they were optimistic that Foton would restart the service on Monday, after assurances from local authorities and the police that their buses would be protected, as well as discussions with student groups.

“Foton has assured us that they will run their buses on Monday,” said Tanveer Sadiq, LTC’s senior operations manager. “We have been meeting with student leaders and groups to resolve the problem.” He said that the police had pledged to protect Foton’s buses.

LTC Chairman Khawaja Hassaan told The Express Tribune that the company had written to all government colleges to propose that they incorporate bus fares in their fees, which would remove their incentive to hold up and vandalise buses. “We are meeting with students and teachers to decide the tariff,” he said. “The buses are meant to make travel more convenient for the students so they should not be breaking them.”

However, he added, the LTC would not be able to make bus cards for students of all public and private colleges, so a separate proposal to reduce bus fares was also under consideration. “We are considering reducing the fare between stops from Rs15 to Rs5, and on long journeys from Rs30 to Rs10,” he said.

Transport competition

Foton and LTC officials said that they suspected local transport companies had paid people to pose as students and disrupt their service, as the Chinese company’s entry in the public transport sector signalled unwelcome competition.

Hasasan said that local transport “mafias” may be involved in the attacks on Foton buses. “The rickshaw mafia and wagon mafia don’t want buses to prosper,” he said. “We are keeping an eye on all the mafias and will take action against them if they are involved.”

Arshad Khan Niazi, owner of a well-known transport company, denied that his company was involved in any such business. “We are not gangsters who hire thugs to trouble other businesses,” he said.

He said that local transport companies were accustomed to the “tough environment” created by the students but continued to operate. “We believe in forgive and forget since maintaining good relations with our customers is important, unlike foreign companies that are only here to mint money,” he said.

As Usual: CNG buses tender goes to 6th lowest bidder

The Punjab government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), to supply 575 CNG air conditioned buses to the citizens, with a financial bidder who was at the sixth position, rejecting five other bidders, official documents of the bidding revealed. 

According to official documents available with The News, the Lahore Transport Company (LTC) - owned by the Punjab government and registered under section 42 of Companies Ordinance 1984 - has awarded the tender to a Chinese firm, Anhul Ankai, whose bid was the sixth lowest. The Company ignored other bidders ready to supply the buses on much lesser price than the firm. 

According to the documents, the successful company demanded a price of $75653 for a bus whereas the lowest bidder was Shanghai Sunlong bus Co Ltd which demanded $62490 for a bus. Among other bidders, Plum Qingqi Motors Ltd/XIAMEN Golden Dragon Bus Company Ltd was the second lowest financial bidder with the bid money of $67450 per bus; Norinco Motors/Yutong was the third lowest financial bidder with a bid price of $68350 per bus; and Zhongtong Bus Holding Company of was the fourth lowest financial bidder with bid price of $69375 per bus. However, this bidder filled two bids and its lowest bid was $60375 per bus. 

Interestingly, the LTC gave the tender to Anhul Ankai, signing a MoU to bring 575 buses in Lahore city, ignoring all other bidders. 

When contacted, political advisor to Punjab chief minister and LTC chairman Khawaja Ahmad Hassan, told The News that tender was awarded on the basis of evaluation marks, including financial and technical bids and five year maintenance costs of these buses. He said financial bid was the one aspect of the process while other matters were also equally important to award tender. However, he refused to tell the details of the grounds on which the lowest financial bidders were rejected, saying that this could not be told off hand without seeing the documents in details. 

On the condition of anonymity, the representatives of a company participating in the bidding process alleged that the LTC had not involved and intimated them after opening of financial bid documents. He said the LTC had knocked out the lowest financial bidders without informing them about the reason of their failure while signing MoU with sixth financial bidder. It put question mark on the transparency of the project. 

He said that the LTC had not even returned the bid money to unsuccessful bidders, despite getting it in August 2011. 

Adnan Mudassar, General Manager Finance of LTC, told The News that the Anhul Ankai had scored 189 marks after evaluation of financial and technical bids while the second bidder score was 170 points. He said the LTC had followed the World Bank Process QCBS (quality and cost base selection) method in evaluating and awarding the tender of the buses. He said that successful company buses was the best international certification under which, if a bus met an accident, only front and back windscreens would be broken while the windows glasses would not be damaged. 

Other then this, the successful bidder had also made a commitment to establish assembly line of their buses in Lahore, he added. He said that the final price between the LTC and successful bidder was decided at $70,000 per bus against the filled price of $75653 while the company would complete the supply of buses April 2012. 

He said that the process of returning the bid money to unsuccessful bidders had started. They would also be informed about their evaluation score, he added. 

LRMTS to be completed by 2020: Urban Transport Master Plan for Lahore

So guys give up all hopes now as finally now this Master plan gives the date of completion of Green Line of LRMTS by 2020 ......... Probably we can see it when most of us will be pretty old
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