LARGE cities have increasing mobility problems due to a large number of vehicles on the streets and roads, which results in traffic jams and thus a waste of time and money. An alternative to improve traffic is to prioritize the public transportation system. The provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Peshawar is home to millions of people. The sixth-largest city of Pakistan, the cultural and economic hub of KPK.
With rapid urbanization, increase in population, and with prompt realizing the need to improve the poor public transport system in Peshawar, GoKP in collaboration with Asian Development Bank initiated to transform Peshawar with BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system, the project which aimed to fulfill the demands for a sustainable, convenient, economical, and reliable mode of public transportation. BRT Peshawar is 3rd generation BRT system which makes is incomparable with the rest of the BRT‘s in the country. The fleet of BRT buses are hybrid, which makes a big difference in lowering the operational cost of the project followed by being environment friendly.
After the untiring efforts of GoKp and TransPeshawar officials following the vision and mission of Hon able Prime Minister Pakistan the project was successfully inaugurated on the 13th of August, 2020. The BRT project is one of the most popular public projects which received infinite acknowledgment from any every nook and corner of the Country. Replacing old orthodox, unsafe, unreliable, and feeble mode of public transport with a project which was designed and engineered in the best interest of the public. The conventional system of public transport was highly unsafe and lead to wastage of time, money, energy followed by the trauma of stress for female passengers.
TransPeshawar is operating Zu buses 16 hours on daily basis carrying thousands of passengers across the city on 30 BRT stations. In addition to this 3 feeder routes are also operational to ease public beyond the reach of corridor. The convenience, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of BRT are unmatchable. In order to facilitate and make people aware of the systems of BRT, the department launched Zu card services. The Zu card services are customer friendly and convenient even for the feeder route services of the BRT. The BRT Peshawar is undoubtedly a milestone project of GoKp that has changed the dynamics of the transport system in KPK. Within a month’s time more than 3Million commuters used this public transport facility, with this number of commuter’s it’s a clear reflection of acknowledgment from the public.
The ridership of the BRT Peshawar will increase on a daily basis as this holds a pivotal role in the daily transportation of the public. This system will also aid in molding the behavior of the public. Without the cooperation and ownership of the public BRT system/ TransPeshawar cannot maintain its due quality and efficiency. BRT Peshawar has been developed as per international standards and those standards must be met and kept with the cohesive cooperation of its commuters. Male passengers must be cultured enough to let females, special and aged people sit in their designated spaces. We hope this system will reshape the future of the province and the city.
