The 56 buses out of a total of 2,000 buses which the Lahore Transport Company (LTC) promised in 2008, have finally arrived in the country on Friday. The rest of 1,956 buses will take some days to arrive in order to overcome commuting issues that citizens face.
The 56 buses, recently dispatched from China are parked at the Karachi port. They are ready to be driven to Lahore, after clearance from the Customs department. So far, 42 buses got clearance and the rest are in queue to be cleared. These buses have been brought by a private bus company, Phtoton.
As per agreement, the company is to bring 111 buses, out of which 56 have arrived. However, their arrival schedule is still uncertain.
With the inclusion of 56 buses, LTC plans to add 250 buses in the city transport infrastructure by the end of November.
LTC spokesperson Amjad Bhatti, while talking to Pakistan Today, said all credit went to LTC Chairman Khawaja Ahsaan for the availability of the buses. The Photon Bus Company brought the busses by paying the 16 percent GST, he added.
He said another private bus company, First bus service, will bring 100 buses soon. He said LTC was aware of citizens’ commuting concerns and that it was working on different projects to address them. Bhatti said LTC contracted with different advertisement companies to renovate bus stops.
Bhatti said LTC plans to procure 500 air conditioned urban buses to provide immediate relief to the citizens. In this regard, a tender had already been floated on the LTC website and 300 buses had been identified for refurbishment, he added. He said in order to counter the transportation burden, around 3,000 buses were required.
