I WISH to share a horrible experience I recently had at the Metro Bus Station. What was expected to be a comfortable trip became a matter of confusion. Lahore’s Metro Bus turned a 30-rupee journey into a 30-minute survival test. As it happened, I went to the counter and was informed that there were no tokens. Also, one of the automatic ticket machines was mal-functioning. This is a massive dilemma for laymen and workers who lack e-cards and purchase daily tokens. The authorities are forcing people to use e-cards, but the machines are not functioning, and no tokens are available.

The Punjab government should ask the transport secretary, who has his secretariat only half-a-kilometre away, to come out, purchase a 30-rupee token himself, and have a sample of what Lahoris have to go through every single day. A smart system where people are compelled to struggle to secure a ride is not mass transit; it is a day-to-day demonstration of the inefficiency of city managers. They have not travelled on the metro since its inception, and are not aware of the issues faced by the commuters. This lack of first-hand experience means they might not fully understand the challenges people face, making it harder to address them.

Shab Noor
Lahore

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2026