With a population of about 10 million, which is growing at an annual rate of 3%, Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab, is the second largest city in Pakistan. But the public transport network in Lahore was, for the longest time, unsafe, under-developed, fragmented, inadequately managed and highly inefficient. Therefore, residents preferred using their own cars or motorcycles to getting a bus, resulting in an increase in transport related problems like traffic congestion, road rage, harassment, accidents, road robberies etc.

Under the old public transportation system, non-registered wagons, coasters, rickshaws and Qingqis were serving most of the routes. Many public transport vehicles especially wagons operated without a valid license and did not follow the authorized route. These vehicles offered little comfort and security to their passengers. Operators routinely overfilled these privately owned vehicles at the cost of passengers’ safety and comfort.  As a result, more and more people opted to buy their own vehicle as a relatively economical and safe mode of transportation. This increase in the number of vehicles negatively impacted the city’s road network and deteriorated overall quality of life in the city. Lahore needed a public transport system that would entice the people into taking the bus instead of their private vehicles for the daily commute.

To counter the above stated problems, the PMA planned for a bus service in Lahore. The service was originally planned to operate on over 53 routes but a supply and demand analysis reduced this number to 27. It was decided that the establishment of a well-planned, secure bus system, which was expansive enough to cover all of Lahore’s major hubs, would solve most of the city’s traffic woes. In the first phase of the project, PMA implemented the bus system with 27 stations on a single corridor with 14 feeder routes resulting in a total route length of 123 km.

In the efforts of making the bus a safe environment, LMKT implemented a centrally controlled cloud video surveillance system that allows real-time traffic management. LMKT set up a Virtual Switching System (VSS) and Electronic Toll & Traffic Management (ETTM) systems across 14 feeder routes to ensure the safety and security of commuters throughout Lahore. Better operational management of buses was ensured through live video footage, which was provided by cameras installed along the roads at intersections and critical points. The overall system is designed to be controlled and monitored from the Lahore Metro bus Command and Control Center.

The security system established by LMKT is presently serving 135,000 riders daily. The feeder routes operate to facilitate passengers of Metro bus system in an efficient, reliable and safe manner through optimized route network and service-based operating model.

The bus system is designed to be operationally and cost-wise efficient and LMKT’s security system adds to this aspect through its high level of monitoring, which can be used for:

• Better operational management of the bus system.
• Deterrence for unlawful activities