The Sindh government announced the launching of a new bus service in the city comprising a completely environment-friendly fleet of electric vehicles.
Sindh Information and Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon made the announcement on social media to share brief details of the fresh initiative.
Transport department government of Sindh is going to start a New Bus service in Karachi. These are Pakistans first electrical vehicles that are completely environmentally friendly. From tomorrow we are going to start the test drive in the city, Memon tweeted.
The Pakistan Peoples Party government’s new plan comes amid ongoing transportation projects and the simultaneous launch of new routes under its Peoples Bus Service.
Moreover, the sustainability of electric buses is still in doubt, as the same initiative failed last year.
The Sindh government in March 2021 took a similar initiative and launched the countrys first electric bus project in Karachi with a promise that by the end of the year, the number of these environment-friendly vehicles would rise to 100, a source revealed the details.
The sources further stated, The electric bus was launched to run from Tower to Sohrab Goth and the fare for one-stop was fixed as low as Rs 10. However, it didnt prove sustainable and the only route launched came to a close.
A couple of months back, Foreign Minister and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari inaugurated the intra-district Peoples Bus Service project for Karachi having the maximum ticket price capped at Rs 50.
According to the plan, air-conditioned buses imported from China will run on seven routes throughout the city. The Peoples Bus Service is a separate project from the network of BRT lines.
“It will be my request to the people of Karachi to maintain the buses and to not ruin them,”?Minister for Transport and Information Sharjeel Inam?said.
Regarding the fares, he said that the minimum fare would be Rs 25 while the maximum would be Rs 50, depending on the route.