ABSTRACT

The Public Transport landscape of Islamabad is dominated by four metro bus services namely: Red Line Metro Bus Service, Orange Line Metro Bus Service, Blue Line Metro Bus Service and Green Line Metro Bus Service. The Red Line Metro Bus Service is being run by Punjab Mass Transit Authority whereas, the Orange Line Metro Bus Service, Blue Line Metro Bus Service, and Green Line Metro Bus Service is being run by Capital Development Authority. The purpose of this study is to gauge the financial efficiency of these metro buses in Islamabad for which the model of Asian Development Bank has been adapted. The Financial Efficiency of these models are calculated by looking at the capital costs, operational costs, revenues generated, and the ridership of the commuters to which these bus services are catering. Likewise, Key Informant Interviews were also conducted for understanding the financial models of these bus services along with gaining insights on the future vision of public transport in Islamabad. The study concludes that the Blue Line and Green Line Metro Buses are financially efficient as compared to the other bus services since the revenues generated are almost equivalent to catering to the vehicle maintenance costs. Likewise, it has also been observed that the Red Line and Orange Line Metro Bus Services are not catering to the desired numbers of passengers which were proposed prior to launching these studies. Along with other policy recommendations the study culminates by proposing that any public transport initiative must be developed in the light of Principle 8 and 9 of the National Public Transport Policy.