ADB approves $235 mln loan for Karachi Bus Rapid Transit project

KARACHI: The Asian Development Bank (ABD) has passed $235 million loan package for Pakistan to develop Karachi’s Bus Rapid Transit project, ARY News reported.

The project will deliver the 26.6 kilometers BRT Red Line and its associated facilities, which will benefit 1.5 million people, who live within a kilometer of the Red Line BRT station, a statement issued by the ADB on Friday said.

Over 300,000 passengers are expected on the Red Line BRT routes daily the bank statement further said.

According to the statement, the bank said that it will “partially administer” two loans of $100 million each from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Agence Française de Développement for the joint financing of the civil works of the project and its equipment costs.

A sustainable transportation system will not only solve the city’s mobility issue but also address its growing pollution problem, ADB Principal Urban Development Specialist (Transport) for Central and West Asia David Margonsztern was quoted as saying.

“The BRT system, with its innovative features, will address all these issues, improving the overall quality of lives of people in the city,” he added.

The project will restructure the entire width of the Red Line BRT corridor including the construction of 29 stations, dedicated lanes, improvement of the mixed-traffic roadway with up to six lanes in each direction, inclusion of on-street parking and landscaped green areas in various locations.

BRT project will also establish sustainable operations in Karachi by improving the capacity of relevant transport authorities, designing the BRT business model and subsidy-free operations, implementing a bus industry transition program, including a fleet scrapping program and compensation mechanism, developing an effective public communications campaign and delivering the BRT fleet, feeder e-vehicles, intelligent transport system, and a biogas plant.

The ADB will administer a loan of $37.2 million for financing the biogas plant and the incremental cost of the transition from basic diesel bus technology to compressed natural gas hybrid bus technology.