ISLAMABAD: The government’s Metro Bus fare policy in Lahore and Rawalpindi/ Islamabad has backfired as there has been a drastic decrease in number of passengers, claimed a report in The News.
According to the report, the Punjab Metro Bus Authority recently increased the bus fare from Rs20 to Rs30 and as a result the number of commuters on Lahore Metro Bus has decreased up to 20,000 per day while 10,000 to 20,000 passengers have stopped commuting on the Rawalpindi/Islamabad Metro Bus.
“We were expecting an annual increase of Rs800 million in the revenue of Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA) by increasing Bus fare from Rs20 to Rs30 in the two metropolitan cities. However, it is quite surprising that the number of passengers have decreased up to 20,000 in Lahore and 10,000 to 20,000 in Rawalpindi-Islamabad on a daily basis,” an officer of PMTA was quoted as saying in the report.
According to the report, the Rawalpindi/Islamabad Metro Bus operation is facing difficulties as majority of the escalators and lifts installed in bus stations are not functional. The report further states that at least Rs200 million is required for annual maintenance, but the budget is not available to the PMTA.
Claimed by “The News”
Wahh
It’s really disappointing to see the picture of PMBA, with the level of subsidies for low fares are faded. The subsidised operation were not revealed to the media, which now has come to escalators, elevators all stopped. How would senior citizens, women, un-well, sick with their pride in the achievement of PMBA operating on a lolly pop, which is now finished. I guess it’s the maintenance of the elevators/escalators was only paper. The project was with international collaboration, special tariffs applied and a Facebook Page of Lahore. I suggested a complete survey for check/balance be made for expenses, maintenance, revenues, consumables as fuel costs, fuel efficiencies, be reviewed maintaining the traffic discipline. A humble suggestion is study for a hybrid model of the bus with an OEM kit for Hybrid fuel as battery which has to be seen if they are Lithium Ion Battery. I thought many times to seek help from PMBA for Karachi Mass Transit for bus operations. With blessings from Seniors, men, women, unwell, sick, children who travel on the bus and request the concerned authorities to please manage it for the cause of humanity. The World Senior Citizen Day falls on 1 October. I hope PMBA will use its platform to accomodate our parents, grand parents, mothers, sisters who are aged, and old to fully use it, with the elevators, escalators working before the 1st October, 2019. Best wishes to PMBA and blessing from heart.
I travel myself on Metro and believe me, there has been no decrease in commuters. This article is a joke and a lie
O yeah and now people prefer to pay 200 for taxi!? What a baseless article