The Provincial Transport Department has received bids from 74 companies under the franchise transport system to run commuter buses in different cities of Punjab.
Provincial Transport Minister Rana Shamshad Ahmad Khan stated this on Monday at a news conference to highlight the one-year performance of his department.
He said the bids of the four companies namely Al-Baraq, Skyways, Prance and New Lahore have initially been approved while one with Al-Baraq finalised.
"Under the agreement these companies will run 40 buses each on different routes of Lahore," he said.
The Minister said the companies are bidding to run the buses in cities like Multan, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Baha-walpur, Sargodha, Muzaffargarh, Sialkot, Sheikhupura, Sahiwal, Gujrat and Kasur.
The Transport Department, he said, has also concluded franchise agreement with City Tours to run 100 buses on different city routes in Gujranwala from January 10.
Rana Shamshad said that some 583 buses are plying on various city routes in Lahore for the past six years and out of them 425 were inducted during the last one year which shows the importance being attached to the public transport by the Punjab Chief Minister.