Sindh govt gives people of Karachi their first electric bus

As part of their public-private partnership projects, the Government of Sindh launched their electric bus project for the people of Karachi on Tuesday by introducing the first vehicle of the fleet.

Transport Minister Awais Qadir Shah announced that the electric buses in the city would initially run between the Merewether Tower and Sohrab Goth at the fare of Rs4 a kilometre. He vowed that 100 such vehicles will be plying across the city by the end of the year.

Shah said while inaugurating the project that 10 electric buses will run during the trial phase. He said that the fare from one stop to another will be Rs10, while Rs4 a kilometre will be charged from every passenger.

He pointed out that transport was a big issue for the people of Karachi, so the provincial government had been contemplating introducing electric buses in the megacity.

He announced that the government will increase the number of buses every month. He lamented that the transport department had been unable to work the way it should have since 2017.

However, he was hopeful about private investors making their way to Pakistan, with the electric bus project to materialise for the first time in Sindh. He said that the bus rapid transit projects are also being completed in Karachi, for which they will bring in 250 new buses.

Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry congratulated the provincial government on the launch. He congratulated the Sindh government, especially the chief minister and the transport department, on the remarkable initiative of adding an electric bus to the Karachi’s transport system.

Chaudhry assured the Sindh government of the federal administration’s complete support for the future-driven project, and hoped that the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments would also follow suit.