ISLAMABAD, Jan 5: The twin cities have taken their first step towards a dignified and environment-friendly urban transport system with the introduction of flashy seagreen clean-burning CNG buses cruising the roads.

The private company has so far brought only two buses on the road  for trial run, which are now running on Route 1, traveling between Saddar (Rawalpindi) and Pak Secretariat (Islamabad) via Murree Road.

These are the first fully dedicated and imported CNG buses in the country. Some experimentation had been done in other cities like Karachi and Lahore by using vehicles powered by hybrid engines, but it came a cropper. Initially, the company would be operating a fleet of six buses, each having a capacity for 100 passengers. But, it hopes to be joined by other investors and companies.

These buses could be followed by several hundred more in the coming months, an official of the company said when asked if the buses were ufficient to create a real impact on the agonizing and tormenting transport system in the twin cities dominated by the privately operated vans.

The commuters see the launch of the new buses as a ray of hope to end their painful experience to commute between the twin cities on public transport. There had been lots of complaints like overcharging, non-completion of routes and misbehavior against those operating the vans. But in the absence of a real competition, there was no improvement in sight, especially because of lack of interest  of the local administration in redressing these complaints.

A study by the bus company shows that almost 100,000 passengers daily commute between the twin cities using some 1500 vans. Unlike the failed franchise transport system, these air-conditioned buses would not be charging higher fares rather these would follow the fare structure approved by the Punjab transport department.

The low-bed buses are a blend of US and Chinese technology and sport everal passengerfriendly features. Though the company claims to  introduce a real change in the transport culture of the city, one of  the noticeable differences would be the decline in pollution that has assumed epic proportions exceeding the limits prescribed by the World Health Organization.

 A study jointly conducted by Pepa and Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) had found out that particulate matter PM10 averaged 200 micro grams/m3. The new WHO guidelines limit for 24-hour monitoring of PM10 is set at 50 micro grams/m3. Similarly,oxides of nitrogen also exceed the WHO guidelines. Diesel buses and vans are one of the biggest sources of pollution here.They account for a very small percentage of the vehicle fleet, but contribute over half of the city¡¯s vehicle pollution.

Natural gas buses produce significantly less harmful pollutants than comparable diesel buses, including 40 percent less nitrogen oxides (a primary precursor of smog), 90 percent less particulates (soot), and up to 85 percent less air toxics. One natural gaspowered transit  bus displaces almost 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel in one year.