Passengers happy as BRT service restored

PESHAWAR: The restoration of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service may address the woes of passengers in the provincial capital where most of the traffic is passing through the single artery, which remained congested during the peak hours.

The passengers, who regularly travelled through the mass transport service, expressed delight over the restoration of the service. Two students Shahsawar and Muhammad Azam, who are studying nursing in Islamabad, told this scribe that the service was a very good beginning for the people of this city. However, they said lack of washrooms, dysfunctional elevator and accommodation capacity were issues that made such service in Punjab better than this one.

Another student of Abdul Wali Khan University, Sufaid Khan, said that the company should also improve the ticketing system, saying that the Rawalpindi Metro service provided tokens to passengers, which were better than the paper tickets in BRT. A resident of Peshawar city, Muhammad Ibrahim, who works at the Gora Bazaar, said that he was happy that the service resumed operation as it was low cost and efficient for people of low income background.

Adnan Hussain, who travels to his workplace at Karkhano Market from Chamkani, said that the BRT service had saved almost one hour each trip. He added that earlier he would find it difficult to reach his workplace on time, but now he did not face this problem. He said that during the month when the service remained suspended the traffic congestion on the roads in Peshawar commuting in the town was almost impossible. Despite the instruction from the TransPeshawar about following the standard operating procedures to protect passengers from getting infected with Covid-19, some of the staff members and passengers were not wearing facemasks. The staff members were diligently assisting the passengers in getting to the buses.

A passenger from Rawalpindi, Tehsin, said that people in his town were accustomed to the service. Pointing towards the front seats where male passengers were sitting, he said that no one in his town occupied the seats reserved for female passengers. When an elderly man boarded the bus at the University Station nobody offered their seats to him. A young man at the back seat offered the man his seat. When the elderly man politely declined his offer, the young man said, “We should not abandon our values for these modern facilities.”