Lahore, often celebrated as the city of gardens, is grappling with deteriorating infrastructure and significant challenges in its transportation sector. The city’s rapid urbanization and extensive concrete development have strained its infrastructure, leading to a critical need for a cohesive approach to urban planning and transportation.
In response to these challenges, the Punjab government established the Committee of Integrated Urban Transport Planning (C-IUTP) to unify key stakeholders and address the city’s pressing issues. To advance this initiative, the Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMA) engaged the National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK) to conduct a thorough feasibility study of public transport routes and land use.
In this context, the Punjab Mass Transit Authority and NESPAK successfully hosted the Lahore transport week, a groundbreaking event from July 22 to July 31, 2024. The week-long event featured specialized workshops covering a range of critical topics, including data collection, urban planning, transport infrastructure and models, operations and financial sustainability, institutional frameworks, and environmental considerations.
The final day of the event, dedicated to environmental considerations presented by speaker Engineer Muhammad Shariq, culminated in a significant seminar chaired by Transport and Mass Transit Department Secretary Dr Ahmed Javed Qazi. PMA Managing Director Khanwar Anwaar Ali, NESPAK Managing Director Zargham Eshaq Khan; PMA Operations GM Ozair Shah; and Furqan Ali Malik; Kamran Yousaf and Jamshaid Faisal Janjua from NESPAK also address the seminar.
The concluding seminar focused on developing sustainable environmental infrastructure to ensure long-term stability and resilience. Discussions highlighted the need for a comprehensive framework addressing urban planning restrictions, traffic safety regulations, city growth, transportation network challenges, public transport deficiencies, mitigation strategies, framework development, and implementation approaches.
Looking ahead, a one-day seminar will be scheduled to share findings and methodologies from the feasibility studies, marking a crucial step towards optimizing Lahore’s urban transport systems and ensuring a sustainable future for the provincial capital city of the Punjab province.