The Lahore Metrobus is a bus rapid transit service operating in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (, ) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. With a population of over 127 million, it is the Demographics of Pakistan, most populous province in Pakistan and the List of first-level administrative divisions by popu ...

. The service is integrated with

Lahore Transport Company Lahore Transport Company (LTC) () is a public transit bus system established for the carrying of urban passengers in Lahore, in Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. It operates a bus rapid transit system in Lahore. However, the BRTs do not have de ...

's local bus service to operate as one urban transport system, providing seamless transit service across

Lahore District Lahore District () is a Districts of Punjab, Pakistan, district in Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab, Pakistan, consisting of the provincial capital, Lahore and surrounding areas. It is the most populous Districts of Pakistan, district of Pakistan, with ...

with connections to neighboring suburban communities. The Lahore Metrobus was designed to be opened in stages, with the first stage opening on 11 February 2013 stretching from Gajumata to

Shahdara Bagh Shahdara Bagh (; meaning “''King’s Way Garden”'') is a historic precinct located across the Ravi River from the Walled City of Lahore in Punjab, Pakistan. Shahdara Bagh is the site of several Mughal-era monuments, including the Tomb of J ...

. The 27 km stretch was opened during a ceremony by Chief Minister of Punjab

Shehbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who has served as the 20th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan since March 2024, having previously been in the role between Ap ...

along with Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey

Bekir Bozdağ Bekir Bozdağ (born 1 April 1965) is a Turkish lawyer and politician of Kurdish origin and former Minister of Justice. On 6 July 2011 he was appointed the Deputy Prime Minister in the third cabinet of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. On ...

. The second and third stages have been put on hold, as proposals have been put forth to convert the remaining stages to light rail.

History

was established in 1984 to ease the traffic conditions of

and improve bus services. LTC got all the transport responsibilities of traveling in Lahore in December 2009. A BRTS fleet of 650 Buses was introduced. It was given the name " Lahore Bus Company". However, the BRTS did not have dedicated lanes and had to share roads with regular traffic with no right-of-way privileges. This resulted in a system that was a BRTS only in name.

Planning

After 20 years of discussion, the ambitious

Lahore Metro Lahore Metro is an automated rapid transit system in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan and the first driverless metro in Pakistan. Four metro lines have been proposed, of which the Orange Line is operational. It is also Pakistan's first metro line syste ...

, which had first been proposed in 1991 was abandoned in favour of a bus transit system, inspired by the successful

TransMilenio TransMilenio is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system that serves Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, and Soacha, a neighbouring city. The system opened to the public in December 2000. As of 2024, 12 lines totalling run throughout the city. It is pa ...

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and Istanbul Metrobus system. Plans were developed in the last quarter of 2011 by both local and Turkish experts.

Construction

Construction of the project was divided into different packages and was awarded to different contractors. Given to Haji Muhammad Aslam (HMA) and Sons Cranage (Pvt.) Ltd, for all major heavy steel and pillar work, this also included digging into the ground to develop the foundations of the project, and M/s Zahir Khan & Brothers in joint venture with M/s Reliable Engineering Services (Pvt.) Limited constructed the flyover part including two elevated rotaries for BRTS. Construction project started in March 2012 and buses entered service in February 2013. The system, was constructed by the Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA), a subsidiary of the

Lahore Development Authority Lahore Development Authority (LDA) is responsible for new planned development in Lahore, Pakistan. It also regulates and issues permits for new construction and housing projects, private houses, commercial development and remodels. It also con ...

(LDA) at a cost Rs 29.65 billion. The system was built on the

build–operate–transfer Build–operate–transfer (BOT) or build–own–operate–transfer (BOOT) is a form of project delivery method, usually for large-scale infrastructure projects, wherein a private entity receives a concession (contract), concession from the public ...

basis via the collaboration between the Punjab and the Turkish government. The system was inaugurated by

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Mian Shahbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who has served as the 20th prime minister of Pakistan since March 2024, having previously been in the role between April 2022 to August 2023. He ...

on 11 February 2013, in a ceremony attended by

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

and

PML-N The Pakistan Muslim League (N) or (PML(N)) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right, Conservatism in Pakistan, conservative political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate of Pakistan, Senate and the larges ...

ex-chief

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms, first serving from 1990 to 1993, then ...

, as well as ambassadors from many other countries. The

Mayor of Istanbul The mayor of Istanbul is the head of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The mayor is elected popularly every five years. Nuri Aslan has served as interim mayor of Istanbul since 26 March 2025. This article covers the Ottoman Empire to the ...

Kadir Topbaş Kadir Topbaş (8 January 1945 – 13 February 2021) was a Turkish architect, businessman and politician who served as Mayor of Istanbul from 2004 to 2017. Biography He was born on 8 January 1945, in Altıparmak village of Yusufeli district in A ...

, also announced a gift of 100 buses. It is Pakistan's first bus rapid transit system.

Operation

Lahore MBS currently operates a fleet of 66 buses which were deployed by Albayrak Platform Turizm after a seven-year contract in 2013. The buses run on a single 28.7 km long

Ferozepur Road Firozpur, (pronunciation: ɪroːzpʊr also known as Ferozepur, is a city on the banks of the Sutlej River in the Firozpur District of Punjab, India. After the Partition of India in 1947, it became a border town on the India–Pakistan bor ...

corridor with two other corridors being planned. Buses on the current route have an average speed of 26 km/h. The system uses e-ticketing and

Intelligent Transportation System An intelligent transportation system (ITS) is an advanced application that aims to provide services relating to different modes of transport and traffic management and enable users to be better informed and make safer, more coordinated, and 's ...

wand. System operations are managed by the Punjab Metrobus Authority (PMBA), though IT services are handled in coordination with the Punjab IT Board. Following the initiation ceremony, use of the system was to be free during the first month. However, following a week of chaos and overcrowding, a fare of Rs. 20 (US$0.2) was imposed. Currently, the fare of metro bus is 30 rupees irrespective of the destination. According to the

, the daily ridership of the Metrobus exceeds 180,000 with the peak hourly ridership being 10,000

passengers per hour per direction Passengers per hour per direction (p/h/d), passengers per hour in peak direction (pphpd) or corridor capacity is a measure of the route capacity of a rapid transit or public transport system. Definition The corridor capacity in the passenger t ...

(p/h/d). Studies conducted by the transport company claim that this figure will increase by 222% to 20,000 p/h/d in 2021. To keep the cost affordable for everyone Punjab Government has to pay Rs 40 as a subsidy on each Rs 20 ticket.

Design

The Lahore Metrobus meets the criteria laid out by the

Institute for Transportation and Development Policy An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes c ...

. It has barrier-controlled, automated off-board fare collection, a service interval of less than 2 minutes during peak hours, stations with well-designed signage and information systems and a precision bus docking system (See: ''

Guided Bus Guided buses are buses capable of being steered by external means, usually on a Bus lane, dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of Public transport timetable, schedules even during rush hours. Unl ...

''). The terminal approach system has

escalators An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizon ...

and underground, subway-styled approach tubes. Due to these approach tubes, prospective passengers don't have to cross high-speed roads to get to the stations, but go below them instead, an example of a segregated

Right-of-way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...

. The stations have parking spaces for motorbikes and cycles while the two terminals provide car-parking facilities as well.

Ticketing

Two types of ticketing systems exist at the Metrobus terminals: * Single-ride tokens that are good for one journey only and can be purchased for Rs. 30 (US$0.17) at the on-site ticket booth or the self-service Ticket Vending Machines . * Metrobus Cards that can be utilized for multiple journeys. These

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When tri ...

-based cards are credit-card sized and are available at the Metro Bus ticket offices for a refundable amount of Rs. 130 (US$ 0.73). These cards can be recharged to a maximum balance of Rs. 1000 (US$ 5.65) at the TVMs. The Metrobus cards remove the hassle of standing in a queue for a token and card-holders can proceed directly to the terminal. Same card can also be used on the feeder routes of Metro Bus.

Expansion

The Punjab Government in April 2015 approved the expansion of Lahore Metrobus. 15 km track will be added on current route. On Northern end it will be expanded 10 km from Shahdara to

Kala Shah Kaku Kala Shah Kaku (also known as KSK) is a town located in Sheikhupura District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is part of the Ferozewala Tehsil of Sheikhupura District. Kala Shah Kaku is on the M-2 motorway and Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) 19 km west fr ...

and on Southern end it will be expanded 5 km from

Gajjumata Gajju Matta (Urdu, ) is a neighbourhood and union council (UC 145) located in Nishtar Tehsil of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and d ...

to Kahna.

Incidents

Overheating vehicles, May 2013

During late May 2013, the Metrobuses started to develop an over-heating problem as the temperatures in the city crossed 45

°C The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius temperature scale "Celsius temperature scale, also called centigrade temperature scale, scale based on 0 ° for the melting point of water and 100 ° for the boiling point ...

. The air-conditioners gave way and the engines started blowing fumes. Passengers had to bear sweltering heat in the congested buses as well as constant stoppages. Punjab Metrobus Authority's

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

officer, Amir Masood, told the media that when the buses were imported the manufacturers,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

-based

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

-based Sunwin, were told to provide buses that could remain operational in temperatures approaching 51 °C. When the operation error came to surface, Masood said that the suppliers are being fined and the further import of buses from them is halted. To counter the problem, new air-conditioning units were fitted in the buses in late June 2013.

Related Projects

The Punjab Government, in the development program of 2013-14, proposed similar Metrobus projects for

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

and

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

. Metrobus in Islamabad-Rawalpindi Metrobus was inaugurated on 4 June 2015 by the Prime Minister.

Multan Metrobus The Multan Metrobus is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan. Construction work on the line began in May 2015, while operations commenced on 24 January 2017. It was the third BRT project in Pakistan, after the Lahore Metro ...

was inaugurated on 24 January 2017 by PM Nawaz Sharif.Faisalabad Metrobus is planned.