Key takeaways
- The Orange Line carries about 178,714 riders a day.
- Its fare revenue of Rs282 million trails electricity costs of Rs353 million.
- Few metros cover costs: Paris 29%, Los Angeles 11%, Beijing 35% (2021).
- Metros can cut CO2 by 30–50%; BRT by 20–40% versus mixed traffic.
- Land value capture, distance fares and a metropolitan transport authority are proposed.
In this Minute Mirror column (August 2025), Dr. Ghulam Mohey-ud-din responds to criticism of Pakistan’s mass transit systems as loss-making, arguing that ticket revenue is the wrong yardstick.
The argument
Lahore’s Orange Line carries about 178,714 passengers a day, but reported fare revenue of Rs282 million falls short of electricity costs of Rs353 million. The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus recovers about 23 percent of costs from fares. By international standards these numbers are normal. Farebox recovery was about 29 percent in the Paris region (2018), 10.85 percent in Los Angeles (2020) and 35 percent in Beijing (2021). Only a handful of systems, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Kyoto and London’s Underground, cover or exceed their operating costs.
Transit’s value lies elsewhere: less congestion, shorter commutes, lower emissions and denser, transit-oriented development around stations. Metro systems can cut CO2 emissions by 30 to 50 percent and bus rapid transit by 20 to 40 percent compared with mixed traffic.
Pakistan’s systems also fall short of their potential because they are fragmented. Lahore’s original plan included Blue, Green and Purple lines that were never built, and weak feeder services and disconnected corridors limit ridership on the lines that exist.
What needs to change
- Distance-based or zonal smart-card fares instead of flat fares.
- Land value capture through development charges and joint ventures around stations.
- Feeder services and pedestrian access for the last mile.
- Station retail, advertising and parking revenue, following Hong Kong’s MTR.
- A unified metropolitan transport authority, and climate finance for measured emission cuts.