Commuters welcome electric buses for cleaner air

The introduction of metro buses on different routes has brought much relief to the commuters of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, but still, plenty of daily travelers continue to face the issues of rude behavior and attitude of drivers and conductors of public vans on those routes that are not traversed by the metro buses. Several commuters, including the elderly, pointed out that the majority of drivers and conductors of public transport, including vans, who are plying vehicles on the Islamabad Expressway, were exceptionally impolite and indecent with the passengers, besides causing undue waste of precious time. They demanded that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) look into the woes and immediately roll out recently purchased electric buses by linking these massively populated areas to the Capital Territory’s outer including the Islamabad Expressway. Last week, the CDA welcomed the arrival of the first batch of 30 new electric buses being introduced on additional routes to provide climate-friendly means of transportation for the citizens of Islamabad. According to the CDA media wing, following an agreement regarding procuring 160 electric buses from China, the first batch of the 30 new zero-emission buses arrived at the Zero Point bus terminal. As announced, the second batch of electric vehicles (EVs) is expected to arrive in February or March this year, and the residents hope that it will be utilized to facilitate them. In the meantime, frequent altercations took place in private vans daily due to unfair charging and self-inflated fares, particularly after the significant reduction in petroleum products, Muhammad Zareen Bacha, an employee of a private firm in Blue Area, told APP on Sunday. He particularly mentioned public vans No. 136 and 124. He said that most conductors seemed to need to be more literate and produce a fare list whenever asked to by the travelers, as they often charged them extra. Similar were the views of Ayesha Jabeen, a housewife, as she lamented the proper checks on the rude behavior and conditions of public vans where extra passengers were forced to board without considering the seats allocated for women’s commuters. Moreover, it is also observed that different vans have installed CNG cylinders and extracted fares equivalent to those fixed for petrol and diesel usage. Zubair Talha, a NUML university student, travels from the Police Foundation to H-9 daily and noted that these vans had installed CNG kits but has yet to witness any relevant authority check the safety of these kits or the fares charged by the van owners. “They also prolong their stay at different stops and waste precious time,” he says while wearing a fussy look. Sajjad Azhar, a senior journalist, writer, and resident of Media Town, regretted that a vast population was living in a dozen private societies nestled around the Expressway and were not linked with the Metro buses as they had to rush to Koral Chowk to catch the buses for their desired destination. “Plying electric buses will not only streamline mass mobility in these areas but also link the deprived populace with the Metro bus network,” he suggested. He demanded that CDA immediately start electric bus service from Bahria town, liking the entire areas of Media Town, Police Foundation, PWD, Soan Garden, Pakistan Town, Jinnah Garden, Capital Enclave, and others with the metro bus routes. Several daily passengers harbor doubts by saying that, from the CDA’s announcement, it appeared that a vast populace in these areas would not be able to get any immediate relief with the introduction of EVs. Muhammad Aslam, a journalist, and resident of Humak, Model Town, said that EV routes should run from the major traffic artery of the twin cities passing through the Humak area, as it is lying at a critical juncture connecting some central regions of Kak Bridge Islamabad to GT Road up to Kashmir. “The area lacks decent public transport to transport residents to the capital’s main downtown. The public has to endure the daily nuisance created by the owners of the smaller vans with a capacity of only ten passengers,” he told the agency. The commuters also requested that the authorities be concerned. The Islamabad Traffic Police ensure that drivers of the vans display the fare lists and cleanliness, and random checks are conducted by the relevant transport authorities to maintain torment-free travel on these routes.