Claim: TransPeshawar BRT, the bus rapid transit system in Peshawar, won the Sustainable Transport Award (STA) 2022.
Fact: TransPeshawar or Peshawar BRT won the second “Honourable Mention” at the 2022 Sustainable Transport Awards. The first place award was, in fact, won by Bogotá, Columbia, in recognition of the city’s implementation of several sustainable mobility initiatives.
Fact or Fiction?
On 2 December 2021, Facebook page Pakistan Republic, which has over 67,000 followers, shared a post about the bus rapid transit system in Peshawar, with the headline, “TransPeshawar BRT wins Sustainable Transport Award 2022, Announces Asian Development Bank.”
The post was then picked up by a handful of Facebook pages, including Startup Pakistan Recorder, Developing Pakistan, Dr Changez Khan and M Ismail Blogger.
The claim was shared on Facebook by multiple groups as well, including here, here and here, among others.
While Peshawar was indeed recognised for its efforts at the 2022 Sustainable Transport Awards, it was awarded the second honorable mention, with Tartu, Estonia bagging the first honourable mention. This year’s winner, however, was Bogotá, Columbia for it’s BRT system and urban cycling strategy.
The official website of the Sustainable Transport Awards states: “On February 9, 2022, ITDP [Institute for Transportation and Development Policy] and the Sustainable Transport Award Committee celebrated our 2022 Sustainable Transport Award winner, Bogotá, Colombia, and our honorable mentions, Tartu, Estonia and Peshawar, Pakistan.”
The website notes that each year different cities are recognized for implementing innovative sustainable transportation projects which improve mobility for all residents, reduce transportation greenhouse and air pollution emissions, and improve safety and access for cyclists and pedestrians.
In a statement of thanks on behalf of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, the province’s finance and health minister Taimur Khan Jhagra highlighted the fact that 20% of Peshawar BRT’s ridership comprises women, which is significant given that before the BRT women made up just 2% of public transport users.
Although the pages and groups carried the story with a misleading headline, they did clarify in their captions that Peshawar won an honourable mention at the awards.
Virality?
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the period from 1 December 2021 to 9 February 2022 using the following search terms:
- “TransPeshawar BRT”
- “TransPeshawar BRT Sustainable Transport Award”
- “Sustainable Transport Award 2022”
The analysis turned up 154 posts associated with the first search term, which received over 36,000 interactions. Posts and reactions peaked on 2 December 2021. Pakistan Republic’s post gained 14,800 likes, 580 comments and 3,600 shares. It is also doing 12 times better than other similar posts.
The second search term received over 25,652 interactions across 97 Facebook posts during the same period.
The third search term yielded posts that were even more popular, with over 111,227 interactions across 347 Facebook posts. The results show that Startup Pakistan Recorder’s post gained 3,600 likes, 168 comments and 527 shares.
Conclusion: Peshawar BRT did not win the 2022 Sustainable Transport Award, but did receive the second honorable mention.