Govt to set up Capital Mass Transit Authority
Aftab Ahmed
The federal government is likely to set up a Capital Mass Transit Authority to operate metro buses in Islamabad as public transport.
The cabinet had decided to establish a separate entity to run buses within the federal capital.
Following this decision, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) prepared a draft ordinance for the establishment of capital mass transit authority through appropriate legal legislation.
Airport Metro Bus
It is shocking that the PML-N government had initiated the Airport Metro Bus project without conducting any feasibility study. Now, the PTI government had come to know that there would be low ridership and therefore, it should hand over the operation to a private operator.
https://newztodays.com/cda-refuses-to-take-over-metro-bus-project/
There are 68 buses with the Punjab Mass transit authority (PMA) for the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus Project.
Most of the buses are parked idle at the bus depot but payments are being made to the bus operator to guaranteed km’s at 70,000 kilometres per bus annually that a loss to the public exchequer.
CDA had proposed as a stop-gap arrangement PMA may be asked to ply buses till such time the remaining ancillary works are complete.
This will facilitate the bus commuters and give time to the executing agency to complete the remaining works required for its operationalization.
Chairman CDA highlighted the absence of any traffic/ridership study existed for airport users. He recommended the in view of very low ridership the preferred option should be to get 8-10 buses from the idle fleet available with Punjab Metro Authority to ply on the airport route.
The members expressed dismay as to why the issue of low ridership and absence of feasibility was not highlighted before. Some of the members demanded that responsibility should be fixed on those who initiated the project without any feasibility study.
Suggestion to bring in a private operator was also given. The majority of the members were of the view that a committee under the minister for finance and revenue be constituted to evaluate various options and recommend a way forward. Despite all faults, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) will operate Metro Bus Service.
