The Islamabad Traffic Police has extended its free scooter-riding training programme for women by two weeks after an overwhelming response from applicants. The programme, which began on November 1 at the Uraan Driving School, was originally scheduled to end on November 15. A second phase will now run from November 16 to November 30, giving more women the chance to learn to ride and travel on their own.
The extension was announced after strong interest and participation from women across the capital. Officials said the additional phase was designed to open more places for applicants who had not been able to join the first round. The training gives women practical scooter-riding skills, helping them travel independently with greater confidence and improving their everyday mobility. For many participants, it is their first chance to learn to ride in a structured and supportive setting.
The sessions are held at the Uraan Driving School, which operates from the Islamabad Traffic Police Headquarters in Faizabad. All training is carried out under the supervision of experienced female police officers, so learners can practise in an environment where they feel comfortable asking questions and making mistakes. The course covers the practical side of riding, along with road safety, vehicle handling and basic maintenance, so women leave able to ride safely in real traffic.
Women who want to join the second phase can register by visiting the Islamabad Police Lines in Sector H-11, where on-site registration is being handled. The training itself is completely free of charge. It is worth being clear about what the programme offers: the government is providing free lessons, not free scooters. Participants receive practical instruction without paying training fees, but no vehicle is handed out at the end of the course. That distinction matters, because it sets the right expectation for everyone who signs up.
The Uraan Driving School was inaugurated in February 2026 by Inspector General of Police Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi, and it was launched during the tenure of former Chief Traffic Officer Captain (retired) Hamza Humayun. The school was set up as a dedicated facility for women who want to learn to operate scooters, motorcycles and cars. Its first batch graduated on March 8, 2026, when 100 women completed their training, and a second batch followed in April through a 21-day course covering car driving, motorcycle riding and scooter training.
The scooter programme sits inside a much wider set of changes being introduced by the Islamabad Traffic Police under Chief Traffic Officer Kainat Azhar Khan. Dedicated Pink Counters have been set up at all Police Khidmat Markaz and at the Traffic Headquarters, staffed by female personnel, so that women can access driving licence and character certificate services in a more comfortable setting. College and university students applying for motorcycle licences can now receive them on the same day between November 1 and November 30, bypassing the standard 42-day learner permit waiting period, provided all legal requirements are met. Driving licences are also being delivered to people’s doorsteps through TCS, removing the need for repeated visits to government offices.
The thread running through all of these steps is the same: making traffic services easier to reach, especially for women and students. Chief Traffic Officer Kainat Azhar Khan has said that empowering women, facilitating students and providing modern, transparent and accessible traffic services remain among the top priorities of the Islamabad Traffic Police. The scooter programme is the most visible part of that effort, because it puts women on the road rather than simply making paperwork easier.
The importance of the programme goes beyond learning to ride. For many women in Islamabad, the ability to ride a scooter is the difference between depending on someone else for every journey and moving freely on their own terms. It matters for students travelling to college, for working women getting to their jobs, and for mothers managing school runs and errands. Public transport does not reach everywhere, and ride-hailing costs add up quickly. A scooter offers a cheap and flexible way to get around the city once the skill is learned.
There is also a safety dimension. Women who learn to ride under trained instructors, with proper attention to road rules and defensive riding, are better prepared for the traffic they will face than those who pick up the skill informally. The programme’s emphasis on confidence is deliberate: the goal is not only to teach the mechanics of balancing and steering, but to build the assurance needed to ride in busy streets without hesitation.
The extension to November 30 is, in itself, a measure of the demand. A programme planned for two weeks has been stretched to a full month because women kept coming forward. If the second phase fills up as quickly as the first, the traffic police will have a clear signal that this is not a one-off initiative but a service the city needs regularly. For now, the message to women in Islamabad is simple: the training is free, the instructors are ready, and the door is open for two more weeks.
