LAHORE: Punjab Government plans to electrify its public transportation by introducing 300 battery-powered buses this year, the transport department has announced.
Besides the new fleet of buses, the pilot plan will also aim to roll out all-electric motorbikes and three-wheelers in the province of over 110 million.
Punjab’s transport secretary Asad Gilani said that the initiative is part of a wider government policy to cut down on emissions and pollution in the country. Three of Punjab cities – Lahore, Faisalabad and Gujranwala – are constantly ranked in the 30 most polluted cities in the world, according to the AirVisual data.
“There are two models of buses we are looking at, the eight-meter and the 12-meter long bus,” said Gilani, “We are though more inclined towards the eight-meter one.” The countries, he went on, the Punjab government is likely to procure electric buses from is China and Austria.
At the moment, there is no set timeline for when these buses will begin plying the roads, but the secretary adds that they plan to “introduce them before smog descends on Lahore.”
Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest metropolitan city, has a population of 11 million, but only 300 public buses and 500 mini-vans, as per the Lahore Transport Company (LTC). “The city needs at least 1,500 public buses to meet its need,” Shehryar Hassan, a senior official at the LTC, told Geo.tv earlier.
But, as of November, there are only 45 state-owned buses are on the roads, as the contract for the remaining has expired.
For the new, zero emissions buses, battery recharging stations will have to be set up in Lahore and the other divisional headquarters of the province. A single bus will need to be charged for six hours before it can run the entire day.
However, one criticism often directed at the provincial government is that with rolling black outs in the country how will it run an electric transportation system. “There is a misconception that Pakistan has an electricity shortage,” insists Gilani, “We have excess capacity which is often underutilised.”
Simultaneously, the government is also working on introducing electricity or battery-powered trams in Lahore. The feasibility study for which has now been completed, said officials of the transport department. “However, we are waiting to see if we can secure funds for it,” said the secretary.
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