Punjab has extended its electric bus service to seven more districts, with 77 buses entering service in Gujrat, Narowal, Nankana Sahib, Vehari, Lodhran, Sheikhupura and Kasur.
The fare has been set at Rs 20 for the route, which places the service within reach of daily commuters who have until now depended on informal transport of uneven cost and reliability.
Every bus carries a wheelchair ramp, with seating and boarding arrangements for elderly passengers and people with disabilities — a provision largely absent from existing intercity and local transport in these districts.
The expansion follows an earlier phase that took the service into five districts this month, and forms part of a stated plan to build a far larger provincial fleet rather than a set of isolated city services.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has said a further 1,100 buses are due to reach Punjab by 15 August and to be running by the end of that month, with another 1,500 planned within the current financial year.
The test for the programme will be what it looks like a year from now: whether the fleet is maintained, charging infrastructure keeps pace, and the routes still run to timetable once the launch has passed out of the news.
