KARACHI: As the Sindh government is set to take over the operational control of federal-funded Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Green Line on Monday (today), the province has set aside Rs1 billion subsidy to maintain the fare for next four months to help thousands of commuters, it emerged on Sunday.

Compared to the Sindh government’s Peoples Bus Service (PBS) which has recently fixed Rs80 as its minimum fare, the maximum fare of the Green Line is Rs55 per person after a subsidy given by the federal government.

“The Rs1 billion subsidy being offered by the Sindh government will help maintain the fare at the current level till June 2025,” said a source.

However, a question remains about the sustainability of current level of fare after the month of June.

Provincial govt ready to take control of federal-funded Green Line today

The Sindh government is already offering subsidies on its flagship PBS project across Sindh which was launched in June 2022. On February 1, 2025, the minimum fare of PBS for all routes till 15 kilometres was increased to Rs80 and above 15 kilometres the fare was set at Rs120 per person per ride.

“Currently, Sindh is offering the cheapest transport service in the public sector compared to any province in the country. The amount of Rs1 billion is aimed at maintaining the same trend,” said another source.

“It would be a challenge for the provincial authorities to keep both BRTs and Peoples Bus Service operational at low fares,” the sources said while hinting at the possibility of a rise in the fare after June.

Last month, the Sindh Mass Transit Authority had announced that it would take control of BRT Green and Orange lines from March 10.

Last week, Sindh Energy Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah had chaired a meeting of the sub-committee of the Sindh cabinet on finance which approved the release of Rs200 million grant to “ensure continuous operations of the Green Line service in Karachi”.

The official sources said that Rs200m was actually allocated for maintenance of the Green Line project’s infrastructure till the end of current fiscal year, June.

Envisaged and executed in February 2016, the project took almost six years to complete and formally began operating in January 2022.

The people of Karachi, who were yearning for a better transport service for nearly three decades, gave a positive response to the Green Line bus service.

During its first six months of running as close to six million citizens travelled through its dedicated corridor on 80 buses in the given period. Still thousands of commuters travel through its buses daily paying different amount of fares based on travel distance.

The Green Line operates on its dedicated track with an average ridership of 55,000 people per day over a 20.9-kilometre route daily.

The Orange Line service was formally launched for public in September 2022 six years after the project was launched. It is a 3.8km service with 20 buses on the main track.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2025