SIR ZAHID USMAN

PROJECT MANAGEMENT REPORT MBTS LAHORE

WAQAR ZAFAR MALIK

ROLL # ARCH - 013 2011
DATE 16 06 - 2014

Table of Contents

Introduction

Mission

Work breakdown structure

Planning

Construction

Operation

Expansion

Design

Ticketing System

Scope of work

Why the need of BRTS?

Schedule

Budget

Risk

Abbreviations

Introduction
Lahore Metro bus service was developed with the aim to provide safe, efficient and comfortable
urban transportation system in the major cities of Punjab; the Government of Punjab has
established Punjab Metrobus Authority (PMA) for construction, operation and maintenance of
mass transit system.
Lahore is the second largest city of Pakistan with estimated population of 10 million. The
transport demand recently estimated by Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA) is
12 million trips, which includes 4 million short walking trips and 8 million motorized trips, on a
usual weekday. The number of vehicles registered in Lahore increased sharply from 95 vehicles
in 2001 to 238 vehicles in 2008; per 1000 population.
The Lahore Urban Transport Master Plan 2011, prepared by JICA, recommends seven BRT
corridors in Lahore. Therefore, in the year 2011, the Government of Punjab appointed Ulasim
a Turkish based company of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, for preparing the
preliminary design of Metrobus System (MBS).
The MBS is planned in integration with Multi-Modal Intercity Bus Terminals (MIBT), one
terminal to be established on either side of the corridor, with Park & Ride plazas. The overall
transportation map includes integration of Metrobus System & public transport routes, sub-urban
railway, LRMTS (other lines), and taxi system in Lahore.
The Metrobus System Line-1 from Gajjumata to Shahdara is established in Lahore, and is the
first system to be operated by PMA. MBS Line-1 is approximately 27 KM long running in the
North-South direction through the heart of Lahore. Key locations throughout the city are targeted
to allow maximum number of citizens from surrounding areas to avail the bus services. Initially,
27 stations were planned and built along the MBS corridor, which have been designed keeping in
view the needs of the passengers.
The route covers dozens of residential and commercial localities along the citys main artery
Ferozepur road, linking together Lytton road, Jain Mandar, MAO College, Lower Mall, Civil
Secretariat, Aiwan-i-Adal, Chowk Katchehry (District Courts), Shrine of Hazrat Data Ganj

Bakhsh, Ravi Road, and Shahdra town.The other routes are over mountain passes. An 8kilometer section of the route is elevated.
The system uses e-ticketing and Intelligent Transportation System wand. The system is managed
by the Punjab Metrobus Authority (PMBA) with the IT part is being carried out in coordination
with Punjab IT Board.

Mission
The prime missions of this project are as follows:

Savings in Vehicle Operating Costs (VOC) and maintenance costs

Decrease in travel time and traffic congestion

Reduced strain on accident and emergency response system

Smoother and safer intra-city travel

Preference of use of buses on personal vehicles will be fuel efficient

Increase in economic activities

Increase in employment opportunities during construction and post-construction period

Additional revenue via advertisement buses

Maintain standards of safety and speed and manage traffic equitably, which may reduce
the economic cost of travel on the aforementioned traffic routes.

Reduce traffic load from the areas of high activity, providing ample capacity on the main
boulevards to cater for the prospective growth in the city traffic.

The implementation of this project on Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis will resolve
the immediate problem of financing this project from scarce government resources and
ensure timely and efficient implementation of this project.

Work breakdown structure

Lahore Transport Company was established in 1984 to ease the traffic conditions of Lahore and
improve bus services. LTC got all the transport responsibilities of traveling in Lahore in
December 2009. A Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) fleet of 650 Buses was introduced. It was
given name " TransLahore". However, the BRTS did not have dedicated lanes and had to share

roads with regular traffic with no right of way privileges. This resulted in a system that was a
BRTS only in name.
Planning
After 20 years of discussion, the ambitious and expensive Lahore Metro, which had first been
proposed in 1991 was abandoned in favour of a bus transit system, inspired by the successful
Istanbul Metrobus system. Plans were developed in the last quarter of 2011 by both local and
Turkish experts.
Construction
Construction of the project was divided into different packages and was awarded to different
contractors. M/s Zahir Khan & Brothers in Joint venture with M/s Reliable Engineering Services
(Pvt.) Limited constructed the major part of the Flyover including two elevated rotaries for
BRTS.Habib Construction Services construct the down ramp to taxali gate of flyover.
Construction project started in March 2012 and buses entered service in February 2013. The
system, which was constructed by the Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA), a
subsidiary of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) at a cost Rs 29.8 billion. The system
was built on the buildoperatetransfer basis via the collaboration between the Punjab and the
Turkish government.
Operation
Lahore MBS currently operates a fleet of 45 buses. A further 19 buses have been imported from
China by late 2013. The buses run on a single 28.7 km long Ferozepur Road corridor with two
other corridors being planned. Buses on the current route have an average speed of 26 km/h.
Following the initiation ceremony, use of the system was to be free during the first month.
However, following a week of chaos and overcrowding, a fare of Rs. 20 (US$ 0.2) was imposed
irrespective of the destination.
According to the Lahore Transport Company, the daily ridership of the Metrobus exceeds
180,000[11] with the peak hourly ridership being 10,000 passengers per hour per direction

(p/h/d). Studies conducted by the transport company claim that this figure will increase by 222%
to 20,000 p/h/d in 2021.
Expansion
During May 2013, the Punjab government received the feasibility study for the Multan Road line
of the system. The study was conducted by the Turkey-based, stanbul Ulam (Istanbul
Transport), which also operates the Istanbul Metro. However, according to Punjab Metrobus
Authority officials. the expansion of the Metrobus services in Lahore seem to be a low priority
for the Punjab government, which is more inclined towards launching similar systems in the rest
of the province.
The Multan Road line would run along the route from Thokar Niaz Beg to MAO College and
will have a predicted, peak hourly ridership of 7,300 p/h/d which will increase to 15,100 p/h/d in
2021.
Meanwhile another route, along the Grand Trunk Road, is also proposed for the Lahore
Metrobus System. This line will begin at Azadi Chowk and end at the Lahore Ring Road,
passing through the Lahore Railway Station and Daroghwala.
Design
The Lahore Metrobus meets the criteria laid out by the Institute for Transportation and
Development Policy. It has barrier-controlled, automated off-board fare collection, a service
interval of less than 2 minutes during peak hours, stations with well-designed signage and
information systems and a precision bus docking system (See: Guided Bus). The terminal
approach system has escalators and underground, subway-styled approach tubes. Due to these
approach tubes, prospective passengers don't have to cross high-speed roads to get to the
stations, but go below them instead, an example of a segregated Right-of-way. The stations have
parking spaces for motorbikes and cycles while the two terminals provide car-parking facilities
as well.
Ticketing System
Two types of ticketing systems exist at the Metrobus terminals:
5

Single-ride tokens that are good for one journey only and can be purchased for Rs. 20 (US$ 0.20)
at the on-site ticket booth or the self-service Ticket Vending Machines (TVM).
Metrobus Cards that can be utilized for multiple journeys. These RFID-based cards are creditcard sized and can be obtained from the ticket-office for a refundable amount of Rs. 133 (US$
1.33). These cards can be recharged to a maximum balance of Rs. 1000 (US$ 10) at the TVMs.
The Metrobus cards remove the hassle of standing in a queue for a token and card-holders can
proceed directly to the terminal.

Scope of work
Why the need of BRTS?
In developing world cities such as Karachi and Lahore, for millions of working class citizens
jobs and homes are set miles apart. Access to personal mobility a motorcycle or car is a distant
dream. For them, a disproportionate part of the day, and a large share of their wage, is spent
commuting to and from work.
Lahore, a city roughly half the population, never truly bothered with mass transit, until now.
According to the Lahore Transport Company, there are 650 buses on 30 routes, with plans to add
2,000 new buses and realign the entire route network. Thats roughly one bus for over 3,700
people.
Rickshaws and taxis are increasingly unaffordable, even for the middle class. With CNG
shortages and escalating fuel prices, the regular fares for a 10- to 15-km journey easily hits three
figures. Most laborers and low-paid workers, therefore, use bicycles, and the bulk of the labour
force opts for motorcycles. The rest, who can afford these fares, have cars or use rickshaws
within the distance of 10-15km.
The only answer, it seems, is to start thinking seriously about an efficient, dependable, and
respectable mass transit system.
The phrase mass transit conjures images of modern trains seamlessly transporting hundreds of
thousands deep underground, or on elevated tracks. The former Punjab government, under
Musharrafs rule, claims it had a similar vision for Lahore. They have, however, possibly spent

more on recent advertising bemoaning the scrapping of their vision by Shahbaz Sharifs
administration in favor of the Lahore Metrobus, than the planned system itself
The Punjab Government broke ground on the Bus Rapid Transit System megaproject in April
2012.This infrastructure with a linear running length of about 32km stretches from Gajju Matta
in the south to Shahdara in the north and includes a 12.5km flyover constructed within the
busiest areas of the city. The project that was initiated without a ground study, feasibility report,
an Environmental Impact Assessment report or even a timely public hearing had been altering its
course and finances on a regular basis. Two more bus routes with similar design strategies are
expected to initiate construction within the year.
Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) stands out as a finest example quality and speed in the recent
history of civil engineering in Pakistan. Completed in record time of a year, the 27-kilometer
road consists of elevated mega structures zigzagging through congested and most populated
localities of Lahore metropolitan. Bus Rapid Transit provides state-of-the-art transportation the
people daily commuting
through thickly populated areas of Pakistans second largest city. The countrys most reputed
construction, NLC, had its due contribution in realizing the idea of constructing the dream-like
project. NLC completed three important packages of BRTS to the entire satisfaction of the client.
These included Package 1, Package and Package 7. Of all these projects, Package 1 was
completed in incredible time of just 45 days. The best thing about Lahore Metro is its very
service; an exclusive, long-route transit bus racing through an uninterrupted 27 km path is a
dignified facility ride for all.

Schedule
The system was first proposed in 1991 and was updated in 1993 by Lahore Traffic and Transport
Studies, funded by the World Bank. The project was subsequently shelved.
In 2005, the Transport Department of Pakistan revisited the project and carried out a feasibility
study and in 2007, the Asian Development Bank provided PKR1 billion to conduct a study on
the project. An 82 km (51 mi) long rail network with 60 stations was to be constructed in four
separate phases as a part of the project. The first phase involved construction of a 27 km (17 mi)
7

km railway line called green line which would include an 11.6 km (7.2 mi) underground
network. This line would carry 250,000300,000 passengers after construction. The construction
was expected to start in 2008 and complete in 2010. However, the new Pakistani government in
2008, shifted its priorities to other projects.
In June 2010, Malaysia based Scomi International proposed a US$1.15 billion monorailbased
alternative to LRMTS. However, the project was not approved as the Chinese government
agreed to loan the LRMTS US$1.8 billion.The infrastructural investment required in LRMTS
was US$61.9 million per km which was higher than the average range of US$1350 million per
km for similar projects.
In 2012, the LRMTS was abandoned in favour of more costeffective Lahore Metro Bus System
by the Punjab government. It started as a 9 months long project which included the laying down
of road tracks especially dedicated for metro bus. It was started in May 2012 and was
inaugurated on February 11th 2013.

Budget
The pedestrian bridges and escalators alone cost up to about 3.15 billion PKR, and are expected
to run on backup generators that would consume up to 12 liters of diesel per hour.
Block allocations in budget, without mentioning the exact use of funds and the names of
projects to be launched, give the chief executive full control.
The source of funding of the BRTS project is a riddle which nobody is able to solve. The cost
which was envisaged to be around Rs 7.7 billion at the start has risen to Rs 30 billion which may
increase further with the ongoing changes in structural and operational plans. This amount is
much less than the estimates which non-governmental sources are working out.
Officials associated with the project reveal that initially there was a plan to launch the project on
the basis of the Private-Public Partnership (PPP) but it could not materialize due to technicalities,
complexities and political instability. Instead of completing one stretch at a time, roads along the
whole route were dug at the time so that there should be no room to scrap it.

Risk
When Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated the Bus Rapid Transit System
(BRTS) project in 2011, promising world-class, safe and quick public transport facility to the
Lahorites. Little did he know that the poor commuters as well as town planners looked at it
differently; for them it is an ill-executed project that does not take into consideration the impact
it will have on the environment and the cultural life of the city.
Currently, Lahore looks like the Europe of post Second World War, says Ajaz Anwar, a
conservationist. He goes on to predict that the BRTS project is going to divide the city. The
fence which is being erected will segregate the most congested and old parts of the city from the
rest, which is not a good omen for the culture of the city as it will separate families from each
other.

Abbreviations
Punjab Metrobus Authority (PMA)
Metrobus System (MBS).
Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA)
with Multi-Modal Intercity Bus Terminals (MIBT)
Vehicle Operating Costs (VOC)
Public Private Partnership (PPP)
Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA)
Lahore Development Authority (LDA)
Ticket Vending Machines (TVM)
Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS)