LAHORE: By year’s end, a fleet of electric buses would be operating on the roadways of the provincial capital, according to Punjab Minister for Masstransit and Transport Bilal Akbar.
In an effort to lessen the city’s carbon impact, he informed the Punjab Assembly session on Thursday that “at least 27 electric buses will begin running on the Lahore roads by the months of November or December this year.”
For the convenience of nearby commuters, the minister said that hybrid buses would also be implemented in other areas.
In response to a question from an MPA, Mr. Akbar stated that around one million commuters benefited daily from the mass transit service, and that more than 200 feeder service buses in the province capital were receiving subsidies. He continued by saying that during its prior terms in office, the PML-N had established public transportation networks in Lahore and other significant provincial cities.
Mr. Akbar criticized the PTI’s tenure in office, claiming the party tried to ruin the public transportation system.
Against MPA Mushtaq Ahmed chastised the administration for prioritising Lahore over other towns when it came to public transport. He said that the people living in smaller towns felt deprived because Lahore was receiving the entire amount of the Provincial Finance Award.
Another opposition MPA, Rana Aftab, noted that even with buses operating in the province capital, traffic delays had become the norm.
Ijaz Shafi was taken aback by the minister’s criticism of the PTI’s three-year administration in the province and questioned why the party, the PML-N, was singled out for criticism when they had been in power for forty years.
Mr. Akbar retorted that the three years severely harmed the system that had been in place for the previous forty years.
Through a call attention notice, Rana Aftab informed the home that he was being targeted by the SHO of the Thikriwala Police Station in Faisalabad and that he was being threatened with terrible repercussions. He asserted that if the SHO remained in the region, law and order would not become better.
