A sense of normalcy is beginning to settle over the new Metro Bus Service (MBS), with the introduction of a Rs20 flat fare reducing the crowding which marred its first week.
Around 77,000 people used the MBS on Wednesday, according to the Punjab Metro Bus Service Authority, far higher than the 35,000-40,000 users Punjab government officials said they had expected in the early days of the bus service.
The MBS fleet of 45 buses has a current total capacity of 112,000 passengers per day. At a meeting regarding the MBS at his secretariat on Thursday, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif granted permission for the import of seven more buses, according to the Directorate General of Public Relations.
Uzair Shah, the general manager for operations of the PMBA, said that 42 of the 45 buses in the fleet were in operation on Thursday, running at intervals of three to four minutes. The buses were still quite crowded, but running smoothly, he said. He added that fewer passengers likely used the MBS on Thursday than Wednesday due to the rainy weather.
Several buses were damaged in the first week of operations as residents of Lahore curious about the public transport initiative turned out in droves to take a free round of the 27-km bus corridor. The buses were so packed that doors broke and windows shattered and many genuine users were unable to get on. The government had initially announced that the buses would operate for free for four weeks, but was forced to introduce the Rs20 fare after just seven days.
Lahore Transport Company Chairman Khawaja Ahmed Hassaan said rechargeable smart cards would be introduced on Friday so that passengers would not need to buy Rs20 tokens for each ride. The smart cards would cost Rs133.
Officials of the PMBA said that they were unaware of the introduction of smart cards.
Hassaan, who inspected the Kalma Chowk, Gaddafi Stadium and Ichhra stations on Thursday, said that the crowding problem had improved greatly. He urged male passengers to give priority seating to the elderly, women and children.
More than 90% of the escalators built for the stations are not operational and work on some stations is ongoing. Officials said that the government had given the contractors a deadline of February 27 to get the escalators running.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2013.