CDA to join hands with ADB for rapid transit system

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

ISLAMABAD - The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is likely to sign an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on the feasibility study of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service.
“The authority has drafted the agreement under which, the ADB will bear 80 percent cost of the designing of the feasibility study of the project and CDA will bear 20 percent cost”, an official source told Pakistan Today here on Friday. Under the 20 percent cost of the designing, the civic body would not make any payment but they will pay it in the form of transport and offices space for the ADB’s experts, he added.
He said the ADB and CDA might sign the agreement within the next few days. In the feasibility study, the ADB would identify routs across the city for the BRT, conduct passenger count and also devise plan to install automatic traffic signals on the designated routs of the BRT and improve the existing infrastructure, he said. The official said the feasibility would suggest separate “right-of-way” for the bus on the existing infrastructure or a bus lane would spare to allow the bus to operate separately, without interference from other modes of traffic. Under the designing of the feasibility study they would study different factors to such as to either share existing roadways with other traffic, or use bus lanes that restrict other traffic from a portion of the roadway, he said.
CDA PR Deputy Director Ramzan Sajjid, when contacted, said the work was underway on the expected agreement between the ADB and CDA.
“Under the agreement the ADB would design feasibility study of the BRT project but ADB and CDA have, so far, fixed no date for signing of the agreement. He said that the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) would provide gas needed for the project. Some source said that earlier the SNGPL had refused to provide the CNG for the project owing to gas shortage. They said the CDA has demanded 25,000 cubic feed per day (CFD) uninterrupted supply of gas from the SNGPL for the project.
The official said the CDA Project Management Office (PMO) has prepared major terms and conditions for the launch of BRT under which they would purchase 32 buses worth Rs 256 million.
The civic authority has constituted a committee, consisting of representatives of the Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP), Islamabad Transport Authority, the CDA engineering wing, National Transportation Research Center (NTRC) and other related departments, he said.
He said that the committee would decide about the specifications of buses such as purchasing low-floor buses or high-floor buses and after the approval from the committee, the CDA would purchase the buses, he added. The official said that BRT is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. This is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling, he said.
He said the CDA allocated Rs10 million for the project in the budget 2010-11. Currently, the private transport sector is a major source of mobility between two cities with around 1,800 minibuses plying on 16 routes.