ISLAMABAD - The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is likely to start bus rapid transit (BRT) service as a pilot project on two routes in the capital city in the mid of the next year.
“The CDA’s project management office (PMO) has prepared PC-1 worth Rs 800 million for the pilot project. Under the PC-1, the CDA would purchase 32 buses, construct terminals and service stations besides providing other necessities for the project,” an official source told Pakistan Today.
The source said the CDA’s BRT pilot project would be launched on two routes — from Faizabad to Secretariat and Faizabad to Sector G-11. According to a survey, conducted by National Transport Research Centre (NTRC), 26,000 people daily use public transport from Faizabad to Secretariat and 1,600 travel through public transport daily from Faizabad to Sector G-11, he said.
The official said the PMO would assess whether the BRT project could achieve its objective or not. “BRT is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster and more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. This is achieved by making improvements in the existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling,” he said.
He further said the CDA’s PMO was also going to sign an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for designing feasibility study of the BRT project. The CDA and the ADB would sign the accord in a few days, he said.
He said that under the agreement, the ADB and the CDA would bear 80 percent and 20 per cent cost of the designing of feasibility study of the project, respectively. The civic body would not make any case payment, but would pay the cost in the shape of transport and offices for the ADB’s international experts, he said.
He revealed the CDA had allocated Rs10 million for the project in the current financial year 2010-11. Currently, private transport is the major source of mobility between the twin cities while 1,800 minibuses, including Mazda, Toyota Hiace and Suzuki vans are plying on 16 routes within and between Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
The present population of Islamabad is 1.124 million and both the cities are accommodating over 2.78 million people. With present growth trend, it is expected that it would rise to seven million in next 25 years.