Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said that the government is finalizing a project to provide a better public transport system to the resident of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The prime minister said this during a meeting, adding that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) would execute the project.
It is pertinent to mention here that currently there is no organized bus service operating between the twin cites. Some sixteen hundred vans operate on sixteen routes between the two cities, but the level of service offered by these vans is far below acceptable standards, forcing many commuters to fall back to private transport.
According to a study conducted by CDA, over 210,000 vehicles carrying 525,000 passengers travel daily on the three corridors connecting both cities. The present population of Islamabad is one and a half million and the two cities together accommodate a population of over 2.78 million. At the present growth rate, it is expected that this figure would increase to 7 million in twenty five years time, necessitating a much larger and more efficient public transport system.
Plans afoot for new transport system, says Gilani
