Ferozepur Road Bus Rapid Transit project

Ferozepur Road Bus Rapid Transit project

Bus Rapid Transit Project: Update

The Metro Bus Service Project will be a paramount contribution to the uplift of living standards of the masses, said Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif, adding that it would bring a revolutionary change in the transport sector of the city.

He said that the launch of this bus service would result in availability of speedy and comfortable transport facility of international standards to the passengers.

He directed that keeping in view the project’s utility, the related construction work should be undertaken round the clock so that the project could be completed at the earliest.

He was addressing a meeting held to review the pace of implementation of the Metro Bus Service Project on Wednesday.

 

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System Chairman Mehr Ishtiaq Ahmed, Punjab Assembly members Malik Saiful Malook, Ramzan Siddique Bhatti, Dr Saeed Elahi, Hafiz Mian Nauman, Mian Mohsin Latif, Kh Imran Nazir, Dr Asad Ashraf, Planning & Development chairman, Lahore commissioner and district coordination officer, LDA director general, chief traffic officer and other officers concerned attended the meeting. 

The CM said that the 32-kilometre-long lane of the Metro Bus Service, from Kahna to Shahadra, would be built in accordance with international standards and best traffic engineering techniques. 

He ordered all the departments concerned to work in a coordinated manner for timely completion of the project. 

He said that the BRT system was a gift to Lahoris from the Punjab government, adding that the project was being implemented in collaboration with the brotherly state of Turkey and together they planned on giving a complete new look and identity to the city.

He said that in addition to laying of track from Kahna to Kalma Chowk, planning should also be initiated for construction of a track from Shahdara to Kalma Chowk so that the project could be completed as early as possible for the benefit of the people. He said that development work on the BRT project should be continued without interruption. 

Shahbaz said that parking plazas would be constructed at suitable places on Ferozepur Road in order to provide safe parking facility to traders as well as the general public. 

Explaining in detail the metro project, he said it was an intelligent transport project that had been designed keeping in view the increasing traffic load and future requirements of the city. He said the project was aimed at maintaining a smooth traffic flow across the metropolis as per the directions of traffic experts who would be using information and communication technology for the purpose.

He said that transparency, high standard and speedy completion of development projects was hallmark of the Punjab government and all public welfare projects during the last four years had been executed in a transparent manner, bringing benefits for the common man. 

He said that the metro project would also be unique with regard to its standard and transparency. 

The assembly members present during the meeting hailed the CM for launching Metro Bus Service as well as other public welfare projects. They said that the project would result in availability of modern transport facility to the citizens and the CM deserved all credit for the glorious project. Planning and Development Chairman Javed Aslam informed that a separate authority would be set up for operating the BRT system and a legislation would also be undertaken for this purpose. staff report

Transfer of authority: Lahore Transport Company to take over parking duties

The Lahore Transport Company is to take responsibility for parking in the city from the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and the city government and will seek to set up a system that pays for itself.

The city government has forwarded a summary for the transfer of authority to the Punjab Transport Authority, which will forward it after approval to the chief secretary, who in turn will send it to the chief minister.

Khawaja Ahmad Hassaan, the LTC chairman, said the process of approval would take about three weeks. Meanwhile, he said, Turkish company ISPARK is developing a parking model for the city. The LTC aims to set up a parking system that generates enough revenue to run itself. “We don’t want to ask the Punjab government for money to run the system,” he said.

Lahore faces major traffic issues due to the absence of parking areas, lack of public transport and a rising number of vehicles. Hassaan said the city’s parking issues could not be resolved without a quality public transport system. “Now the LTC will hold both responsibilities,” he said. The LTC is importing buses to ply the city’s public transport routes.

Hassaan said that the parking issues in commercial areas could not be resolved without the construction of parking plazas, but he couldn’t say when they would be built.

“These will definitely be part of our long-term plans,” he said. “It is not clear yet what will be in the final summary.”

He said that commuters would be able to get a chargeable card from which the parking meters would automatically deduct fees according to the amount of time the facility is used. Cameras would be installed at parking lots for monitoring, to reduce the risk of car theft and give commuters a sense that their car is parked in a safe area, he added.

Hassaan said that the cost of the new parking model and parking fees had not been decided.

“One thing is for sure: we will earn at least 10 times more than what the CDGL and the LDA are getting through these parking stands,” he said.

The parking fee will be high to discourage commuters from parking their cars at the side of the road, but the fee in parking plazas and stands would be low and charged on an hourly basis, he said.

He said that the LTC would use staff from the public facilities department and hire a general manager and staff to serve at parking lots.

Istanbul mayor announces gifting 100 buses for BRTS project

The mayor of Istanbul, Dr Kadir Topbas, has announced 100 buses as a gift for Lahoris for the Bus Rapid Transit System project. He announced that Turkey would also provide spare parts and after-sale-service facility.

 

He made the announcement on the occasion of a luncheon hosted by Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif in honour of the Turk delegation. Dr Topbas said that relations between Turkey and Pakistan spanned over centuries and the bond of friendship between the two countries was unique. He said that he would never forget the love and affection shown by the people of Lahore during his visit, adding that the Turk were pleased to extend cooperation to Pakistanis in various sectors. 

He said that Turkey had made progress by dint of hard work and the people of Pakistan would also have to show the same spirit.

Earlier, Shahbaz Sharif said that the two mega projects of modern solid waste management and speedy transport launched in the metropolis were a shining example of the Pak-Turk friendship. The CM said that there was an unswerving bond of friendship between Pakistan and Turkey. He said that Lahore and Istanbul were declared twin cities in 1974 and “now, after the visit of Turk guests to Lahore, it looks like a reunion between two brothers after a long time”. 

The CM said that heaps of garbage and filth were also seen in Istanbul until a few years ago, but the mayor of Istanbul made it one of the cleanest cities of the world, and also plied metro buses. 

He said that Lahore would also be transformed into a neat and clean city with the cooperation of Turk companies and the people of the city. He said that a modern system of solid waste management had been introduced in the metropolis and its success would be ensured at any cost. 

He said that the metro bus service would also be started in Lahore, which would result in the availability of speedy transport facilities to the masses. 

Earlier in the day, Dr Topbas laid the foundation stone of the girls campus of the Pak-Turk International Schools and Colleges on Raiwind Road.

The Pak-Turk International Schools and Colleges chairman informed the delegates that the project would help in imparting educational facilities to 900 girls. 

He said that the foundation had been providing educational facilities to more than 5,000 children in 18 schools across Pakistan.

Istanbul mayor arrives to warm welcome

The Mayor of Istanbul Dr Kadir Tobpas was given a warm welcome here on Sunday as he arrived for a two-day visit to inaugurate waste management and bus transport projects that are being conducted in collaboration with Turkish companies.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony for the new solid waste management system at the Town Hall, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that he hoped that the new system would revive Lahore’s beauty and that it could later be introduced in other cities

He said that the same model would be replicated in Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, Peshawar and Karachi and scores of clean cities like Istanbul would emerge in Pakistan.

Dr Tobpas said that the project would give Lahore a clean environment and a healthy atmosphere. He said that the projects with the Punjab government were not commercial ventures but aimed at serving the Pakistani people. That was why the Turkish companies had reduced the cost of the project, he said.

He said that Istanbul produces 15,000 tonnes of garbage a day which it recycles or uses to produce electricity. He said that Istanbul was cleaner than New York.

Dr Tophas drove a cleaning truck, with the chief minister in the passenger seat, after cutting a ribbon to inaugurate the project. He earlier also inaugurated a monument at Istanbul Chowk in front of Town Hall, and is to inaugurate the Bus Rapid Transit system as well as a replica of the Blue Mosque dome in Valencia Town.

The chief minister said that this was the first comprehensive solid waste management project in Pakistan. He said Lahore produced more than 5,000 tonnes of garbage every day.

Sharif said that during his first term as chief minister in 1998, he had made plans with a French company for a solid waste management system, but his government was toppled and the project was shelved.

He said that he was pleased to see this project inaugurated 13 years later with the cooperation of the brotherly Islamic country of Turkey. He said that Pakistan and Turkey had forged strong bonds and that was why the Turkish companies involved in the project had reduced their costs. He said that when they had conducted a survey in Lahore 18 months ago of the facilities needed, they had charged the government a tenth of what they would normally charge on international tenders.

Earlier, the Istanbul mayor was welcomed upon his arrival at the airport by the chief minister. Sharif said that the visit would promote trade as well as brotherly relations between the two countries. Dr Topbas said Pakistan was his second home and he was very pleased to be in Lahore.

A Punjab Police contingent presented a guard of honour to Dr Topbas at the airport. The national anthems of Turkey and Pakistan were played while people shouted slogans for Pak-Turk friendship. The government brought in 225 folk dancers from Jhang to perform at 14 different points along the route.

Portraits of the president and prime minister of Turkey, the mayor of Istanbul, Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif were displayed on main roads all over the city.

The mayor also visited a special exhibition on Turkey arranged by the Information and Culture Departments at the Lahore Museum. Members of the Turkish media in his entourage went on a shopping trip to Neela Gumbad and Anarkali.

Public transport: Plans for smart signalling systems scaled down

The government’s plans to install high-tech cameras and sensors around Lahore to develop an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) are to be scaled down and restricted to just the route of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system for now, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Workers are currently preparing a special bus-only lane for the first phase of the BRT from Gajju Matta to Kalma Chowk on Ferozepur Road and it is scheduled to be operational by May.

Sources at a meeting some 10 days ago of stakeholders in the two projects   including the Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA), the Lahore Transport Company (LTC) and the Planning and Development (PD) Department – said that PD Board Chairman Javed Aslam had expressed reservations at the cost of the ITS and TEPA had been unable to convince him as to its need.

Mazhar Hussain Khan, project director for the BRT and ITS and the director for engineering construction in TEPA, said that the ITS project was still being considered and had not been shelved, as suggested by some media reports. “Planning and Development has not shown any reservations about the project,” he said. “It’s an expensive project so TEPA will provide complete details of it to the department before they decide the fate of the ITS.”

Earlier, Khan had told The Express Tribune that work on the ITS would begin on March 5 and Rs4 billion would be spent on it in the first year. It envisaged the installation of cameras, sensors and LCD screens at 150 junctions, all operated from and monitored at a control centre, to improve traffic management, catch traffic violators and improve security.

Uzair Shah, the general manager for infrastructure at the LTC, said that the Planning and Development Department had expressed concerns about the cost of the ITS, but had sought a detailed presentation on setting up cameras and sensors for the BRT.

“Smart systems are essential for the BRT as it ensures the bus will always get a green signal. The Planning and Development Department is apparently ready to fund third generation smart signalling systems for the BRT,” he said.

If the high tech signalling system is not ready by the time the initial BRT track is finished in May, the LTC will depute around 18 officers to junctions where the bus-lane intersects regular traffic to ensure that the buses are not stuck at signals, he added.

Shah said that the ITS would help save money in the long run. If the ITS meant each vehicle in Lahore was spending one minute less at traffic signals every day, it would amount to Rs1 billion in savings from fuel costs in one year, he said.

He said work on the next BRT track would start in May and it would be from Shahdara to Data Darbar, a distance of around eight kilometres, on Ravi Road. He said that it took a vehicle travelling in regular traffic around 30 minutes to get to Kalma Chowk from Kahna. A bus travelling on the BRT at 27km per hour would cover the distance in about 18 minutes, he said.

Shah said that the LTC planned to run 120 buses on the BRT from the start of operations in May. He said 10 articulated buses – elongated buses with two sections linked by a pivoting joint – would be operated on the route once the entire track is finished, probably in December.

The LTC will introduce special travel cards – the Lahore Chal Card – with help from the Punjab IT Board for the new bus system, Shah said. The e-cards would be available for weekly or monthly travel or for specific journeys.

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Progress on BRTS

Free market benefits: Competition between private rail companies heats up

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It has only been a few weeks and already Pakistan Railways’ experiment to allow private sector companies to operate some of its train routes is beginning to yield better service quality and even the start of a price war between the two companies that have so far been given licences.

Four Brothers, the company that operates the Business Express, and Air Rail Services, the firm that is now operating the Shalimar Express, claim that they are not in competition with each other. This is at least partially true since both trains operate on different routes. While both trains run from Lahore to Karachi, the Shalimar Express stops in Faisalabad and Multan on the way, while the Business Express travels through a different track and skips those cities. Both trains go through the same track from Bahawalpur onwards to Karachi.

Yet for all their protests of not being in competition, both companies are copying each other’s strategy and effectively treating the other as a rival.

Shalimar Express, for instance, recently lowered its fares by an average of 10% in order to attract more passengers and installed LCD screens on nearly all of its seats, a facility that is offered on the Business Express. Meanwhile, the Business Express – which was originally meant to be a single-class train for more affluent passengers – has now introduced a budget and economy class to attract more passengers across the income spectrum.

Executives at both companies seemed to have a wary respect for the other, though insisted on not calling the other their rival.

“We are hopeful to take on the maximum number of passengers since we offer more classes and more facilities than the Business Express,” said Rafaqat Ali, the managing partner at the Shalimar Express. “Our timings and routes are different from Business Express, so one cannot exactly declare us with competition with them.”

“The Shalimar Express was re-launched to target economy class commuters,” said Ijaz Ahmad, chief operating officer of the Business Express. “Business Express is meant to serve the business community and their families. Our target passengers are different from the Shalimar Express and we are not worries about any of our customers shifting their preferences.”

Commuters, meanwhile, seem to be comparing the trains on the basis of one standard that has traditionally been difficult for public sector trains to meet: the ability to leave and arrive on time.

“Timing is a key preference for travellers so whoever manages to depart and arrive on time will get more passengers,” said Rafaqat Ali.

Both trains currently take approximately 18 hours to get from Lahore to Karachi and hence have been unable to effectively compete on timing. The Business Express in particular has been trying to shorten its commute time down to about 14 hours. In the meantime, consumers seem to be differentiating between the two trains based on their brand identities.

“It’s a matter of perception,” said Ahmer Ali, a commuter on the Business Express. “The Shalimar Express has traditionally been seen as catering to middle and lower income families. The Business Express is perceived to be for higher income groups. The fare difference between the two trains strengthens that perception. I thought very few people would opt to travel by the Shalimar once they had travelled by the Business Express, although the Shalimar Express does look more luxurious.”

The presence of private sector trains, meanwhile, seems to have spurred even the sleepy state-owned Pakistan Railways into action.

“With the introduction of these ventures, the pressure on us has increased,” said Saeed Akhtar, the general manager for operations at Pakistan Railways. “We are also working hard to operate some express trains with better quality services. We are improving our locomotive fleet and soon our passengers will be able to feel the improvements in our operations.”

Pakistan Railways has been bleeding money for decades now. In 2010, the latest year for which financial data is available, the state-owned company racked up Rs25 billion in net losses, higher than the Rs22 billion it collected in revenues. The private sector trains, which make fixed payments to the railways in exchange for the right to operate the trains and set ticket prices, were meant to help the public sector company generate more revenues.