Abstract:
PMBS is a BRT system in the Rawalpindi-Islamabad region comprising AADR of
110,000 passengers which is only 4% of total trips of the twin cities with a 41%
model share of public transport. Being the Lower-Middle-Income country, with
5.8% of the Current Account Deficit of GDP (US$ 18.1 Billion), PMBS is important
for sustainability and stability for the deplorable transport structure of the twin cities.
Moreover, besides an average annual revenue of PKR 148.16 /KM, its expenses are
PKR 539.56 /KM i.e. the fare-box recovery ratio is 0.27. About 60% of the total
expenses of PMBS are due to the cost of per kilometers of 68 buses for Operations
i.e.70,000 KM/bus/Year as guaranteed KM. Therefore, around 40 Million
passengers who traveled during 2018, the demand at every station is studied using
VBA of Microsoft Excel and SQL Software. The loss of ridership is observed i.e.
135,005 Passengers/day as per feasibility study to actual 110,000 Passengers/day
due to 9 minutes or above Waiting Time of passengers during peak hours at some
stations. Other issues are; above 40% Saturation Level of stations during peak hours,
increased boarding & alighting time of passengers due to overloading of buses,
passengers’ discomfort during travel, unavailability of park & ride service, women
complaints, and pickpockets issues. The decisions are made based on 1-year data
and three routes are suggested to be fully functional so that the demand can be
increased to plan. The scheduling model is provided. Using this model, the bus
schedule is re-formed and for a single day (Monday) Express & Limited Stop routes
are suggested. By using passenger demand at stations at a Load Factor of 0.85,
310,243 minutes/day of passengers-minutes traveled or 2,281 minutes/day of bus
trips can be saved. Moreover, around 900 KM/day of bus kilometers can be saved
using this schedule which is PKR 100 million savings per annum.
Keywords: BRT System, AADR = Average Annual Daily Ridership, Model Share,
Public-Transport, fare-box recovery ratio, ridership, Waiting Time, Saturation
Level, Boarding & Alighting Time, Scheduling Model, Park & Ride Service, bus
schedule, Load Factor, passengers-minutes, Optimization of cost and comfort level.
