+ BACKGROUND, CHALLENGES AND OBJECTIVES
Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, is considered to be one of the country’s most livable cities with a population of approximately 1.3 million with a growth rate of 4 percent per annum. Islamabad is closely integrated with the adjoining city of Rawalpindi whose population is approximately 3.3 million. Together, these two cities form the nation’s third largest urban conurbation. There are about 700,000 daily trips originating from and terminating within Islamabad, and up to 500,000 daily trips within the nearby urban areas, primarily commuting from Rawalpindi to Islamabad. This growing demand for a better transportation system, coupled with the city’s unusually wide road alignment and medians, provides an excellent opportunity for developing a BRT system within the city.
While it is estimated that over one million trips are taken within Islamabad daily, including up to half a million trips to and from Rawalpindi alone, the city does not have an urban transport master plan. Furthermore, the level of traffic congestion, while not as chaotic as many other Asian cities, is beginning to have an impact on Islamabad’s clean environment and overall livability. Despite being the nation’s capital, Islamabad lacks a formal public transport system that adheres to industry service standards. Dissatisfaction with the existing public transport services has been widespread, and more support for services for the vulnerable, including women, the elderly and the disadvantaged, is significantly required. Given this situation, the BRT system will offer the city an inclusive, efficient, and safer transport system for the overall population.
In order to address the above challenges, the Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) supported the Capital Development Authority (CDA) of Islamabad in the following activities:
1. Comprehensive review of the Master Plan for Islamabad;
2. Preparation of the pre-feasibility study (PFS) for a BRT system for the city;
3. Lobbying potential financiers;
4. Assistance to the city in strengthening its own capacity for improved infrastructure provision.
+ ACTIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION
Development of the BRT system began in 2012 with the support of CDIA in cooperation with the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Infrastructure Project Development Facility (IPDF) of the Ministry of Finance of Pakistan. Apart from determining the technical and financial soundness of the BRT project, the PFS work entailed the conduct of surveys of public transport passengers, conduct of participatory workshops and meetings with stakeholder groups, including the existing transport operators.
Following the completion of the PFS in 2012, the CDA of Islamabad explored various options for financing the project with international financing institutions. In January 2014, it was decided in a meeting co-chaired by the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Chief Minister of Punjab that the project should be funded on a 50-50 cost sharing basis by the Federal Government and the Government of Punjab.
In the name of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus Project, construction of the BRT system was commenced in February 2014 and was completed in June 2015.
+ OUTCOMES AND IMPACTS
The BRT system of Islamabad now serves about 135,000 passengers per day. Passengers pay only Rs 20 (USD 0.20) for a one-way trip with ease and comfort while saving travel time.
Through the BRT system the citizens enjoy increased connectivity and travel efficiency, which also resulted in positive impacts on local businesses and increased value of land properties. Mobility of private vehicles will remain the same. From the climate change perspective, the BRT system will also have a positive impact on the environment as it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the urban area. By replacing over 15 million km of car, wagon and motorcycle travel distance annually, the BRT project has the potential of reducing CO2 emissions by over 4,000 tons per year. It is expected to have significant impact on women, the elderly and disadvantaged groups who heavily rely on the existing public transportation that is inefficient and largely unregulated.
+ REPLICABILITY AND SCALABILITY
Replication of the BRT project has been developed with the question of “what is logical and practical,” given the economic and operational opportunities and constraints in Islamabad. The successful project development process was guided by valuable stakeholder assessment and feedback including:
1. Surveys of existing public transport passengers to ascertain their level of satisfaction, suggestions for improvement and willingness to pay more for improved services;
2. Engagement with existing transporters through formal meetings, informed field discussions and workshops to understand and incorporate their concerns;
3. Close liaison with the CDA and other agencies to ensure that the project is well within the capacity of the government to implement and manage sustainability.
A cooperative public-private relationship is a crucial pre-requisite for the successful BRT project development. Likewise, the BRT system design and route selection was developed in response to the growing dissatisfaction of the existing public transport services, prioritising the needs of lower income communities in Islamabad, particularly women, the elderly and the disadvantaged.
+ BUDGET AMOUNT
The PFS was initially completed in 2012 with the estimated the indicative cost (including the bus fleet) of USD 79 million for the BRT project. The annual operating cost (including provision for infrastructure maintenance) was estimated to be USD 3.78 million.
Construction of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus began in February 2014 and was completed in June 2015 with 60 buses. The route consists of a 22.5 km corridor, 24 bus stations, and a bus depot. The total project cost at completion amounted to RS. 44.2 billion (USD 444 million).