PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has failed to attract transport companies to operate the women-only buses in Mardan and Abbottabad despite repeated attempts since June as interested transport companies backed off from the bidding process demanding subsidy and other incentives.

Fourteen pink buses as they’re called were donated to the KP government by the United Nations Office for Project Service in May this year. They’re to be operated in Mardan and Abbottabad each for the relief of woman commuters facing problems due to the unavailability of a proper transport system.

The provincial government tasked its own company, TransPeshawar, with selecting an operator for the bus service. The company was set up to operate the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit system.

Earlier this year, a controversy had surfaced over the then chief minister Pervez Khattak’s insistence to operate pink buses on the BRT route.

Interested companies demand subsidy, other incentives for Mardan, Abbottabad initiative

It led to an upheaval in the company as the board chairman and several executives quit after government sacked company chief over his opposition to government plan.

The TransPeshawar had tried to select bus operators at least on six occasions during the last seven months, but to no avail, as transporters asked the government to give them subsidy for the service and withdrew from the process after learning about the government’s terms and conditions.

As a result, the buses costing Rs7.3 million each have been gathering dust at the Peshawar general bus stand for several months.

The bus stops in both cities are ready but they’re defaced by posters and advertisements. Also, a ticketing system has been installed, while routes for the bus service have been identified.

On Dec 21, the company issued a request for proposal for the selection of Pink Bus operator. A pre-bid meeting will take place on Dec 27, while the bids will be opened on Jan 7, 2019.

Earlier, the company sought proposals from transport companies on June 6, July 10, Sept 10 and 27 and Dec 4 but the exercise didn’t produce the desired results.

In Oct, the company had come closer to selecting a bus operator by accepting the bid of Taj Enterprise but the board didn’t approve the move and ordered the re-advertising of the process.

A source familiar with the process told Dawn that transporters asked for subsidy on bus service, while the government asked them for revenue by operating buses.

He said transport companies also wanted the government to end women-only condition in light of limited number of women.

“In reality, a large number of women commute in Mardan, while in Abbottabad, their numbers are very high,” he said.

The source said the biding companies wanted exemption from keeping a performance guarantee worth Rs5 million with the TP in line with the contract’s terms and conditions.

He said the government was unable to give waiver from the condition as vehicles carried a price tag of over Rs120 million.

The source said another problem was lack of awareness on part of profit-making bodies to contribute towards social causes and do something tangible for public welfare.

“Nobody pays attention to the people’s welfare and contributing towards the causes of women and children’s development,” he said.

The source said the last option with the government would be to hire own drivers to run the service.

He, however, expressed the hope that the TP would be able to select an operator in the upcoming bidding.

A TP official told Dawn that the company was committed to outsourcing the service through a competitive bidding process.

He confirmed that the companies had demanded several incentives.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2018