Sindh Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar has directed the provincial transport and mass transit department to integrate the Green Line and Orange Line bus rapid transit (BRT) projects in the city to increase their ridership. The chief minister issued these directives while chairing a meeting to review different projects of the Transport & Mass Transit Department.

A statement issued after the meeting said that the meeting participants were told about the Green Line BRT project which was made operational in December 2021. The 20.9-km BRT project currently serves 80 buses operating on its dedicated route with an average ridership of 55,000 people per day. “The CM said that its ridership in terms of buses and the length of the project was not satisfactory,” said the statement. At this point, the statement said, the CM was told that when the other BRTs such as Yellow Line and another feeder would start operating, the ridership of the BRT Green Line would increase to 150,000 to 200,000 daily.

While the launch, completion and execution of three other planned Red, Yellow and Blue BRTs remain a distant dream, the situation also doesn’t look promising with the two already available projects, Green and Orange. “The CM was informed that the BRT Orange Line was 3.8km with 20 buses on the main track,” said the statement. “Its ridership has been recorded at 3,000 per day. The merger between the Green and Orange line could increase the number of passenger from 3,000 to 25,000 per day. The CM directed the transport department to integrate the Orange Line with the Green Line to increase its ridership.”

 Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)