Islamabad: Rapid Mass Transit System: Cabinet committee amends TOR to launch survey

[Naveed Yaseen]

* CDA official says new TOR will increase cost of feasibility study

By Fazal Sher

ISLAMABAD: The Steering Committee of the Cabinet on Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) Affairs amended the Terms of Reference (TOR) prepared by CDA for conducting survey to launch Rapid Mass Transit System (RMTS) between Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The amendments in TOR are likely to increase cost of the survey, a senior CDA official told Daily Times on Thursday.

The CDA has selected Swedish firm M/S Reklers for conducting feasibility study of the project, he said. According to the agreement, the consultant would conduct project’s feasibility at the cost of Rs 70 million within eight months, but the cost of study might be increased as the committee included a number of new steps in it, said the official.

He said the amendment in the TOR included collection and channelisation of all planning and transportation data of various related projects including CNG buses. The survey would also include study of both road and rail based transportation options for launching RMTS and its connectivity with other modes of transport, he said.

According to the new TOR, the consultant would conduct field survey and traffic counts to establish database for determining current needs of the twin cities, said the official. The TOR also includes occupancy and travel time, origin and destination, public transport, passengers embarking and disembarking, stated preferences, willingness to pay and home interview surveys, he said.

He said the consultant would prepare travel demand forecasts by mode and well-defined corridors along with their linkages to phase-I and for subsequent phases up to 2030. They would also authenticate the forecast against comparable system currently operational in comparable cities in Asia, he said.

The official said the survey would identify potential urban mass transit corridors and develop an integrated network plan for immediate phase-I, short-term phase II, medium-term phase III and long-term phase IV up to 2030 and beyond.

According to the new TOR, the survey also includes providing estimate of investment requirements, fare-box revenues for each mode under a range of fare structure and other incentive, institutional arrangements for operation and implementation, said the official.

The study would define the mode of operation including private, public-private, built-operate-transfer (BOT) and participation of different authorities in terms of infrastructure and operations such as land reservation for surface right of way (ROW), terminals, workshop facilities, stops, parking facilities, development of land for commercial use, he added.

The study also includes preparation of phase wise action plan consists of immediate phase I, short-term phase II, medium-term phase III and long-term phase IV. The study would provide information about manpower and training requirement for each stage and mode of urban transport for all phases (construction, operation and maintenance), he said.

He said the study included identification and availability of energy and fuel requirements for the transport sector. The survey would also identify the project’s impacts including environment, social development and determine the financial structure and identify financial risks associated with it.

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