| ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has announced that four bus terminals will be built on the outer boundaries of the federal capital, for which a request for proposal (RFP) will be called to engage private firms.
CDA Chairman Noorul Amin Mengal on Tuesday held a meeting with transporters of the city and informed them about the decision and requested that they submit proposals.
“We are going to construct our planned national bus terminal in sector I-11 and to link it with other terminals, we have decided to set up four satellite bus terminals as well. This city requires such facilities,” the chairman told Dawn.
He said the CDA would soon call RFPs, adding that traffic load on the city’s roads had become unbearable for road users.
In the absence of any national level bus terminal and satellite terminals (on outer boundaries) motorists park their vehicles along roads causing traffic jams, he said.
“Therefore, we are going to construct a national bus terminal as well as four satellite terminals,” Mr Mengal said, adding that the CDA had also decided to engage private transporters to launch express service on various roads of the city.
CDA chairman seeks proposal, says traffic load on roads has become unbearable
“We will encourage private transporters to ply buses on various routes of Islamabad and we will facilitate them,” he said, asking officials about CDA’s own proposed project of hiring services of National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) for plying 150 buses on 13 new routes of the capital.
He said: “Under that project, the NRTC will ply 150 buses on subsidised rate, which will stop at all its designated stops. However, we are holding talks with private transporters to start express service as well.”
An official of CDA’s planning wing said that the civic agency wanted to have satelliteterminals at four different places including Tarnol, Rawat and Satra Meel.
He said the civic agency would engage private firms to set up these terminals and would provide them support and approval.
It is relevant to note that the CDA had already allotted 32 acres in I-11 for the bus terminal out of which four acres are reserved for commercial purposes.
In the absence of a proper terminal, makeshift bus stands and unauthorised bus stands are operating in various areas of the city mainly along the I.J. Principal Road and Faizabad.
Only a few terminals are operating on their own land after getting approval from the authorities concerned.
The CDA board had recently decided to get detailed designing and feasibility of the proposed national terminal in I-14.
Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2023 |
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