JEDDAH, 12 June 2004 — Saudis waste 525,000 working hours every day and spend SR9 million driving their children to and from school, a survey published yesterday says.
When losses resulting from road accidents are added, the annual costs run into billions of dollars, it added.
The survey, by Al-Watan daily, found that 30 percent of male students in public schools are driven to school in the family car by the father, a brother or a family driver, while the figure among girls was 60 percent.
Almost all those polled said they took their daughters to school in the family car even if the school is a short distance from home. Some say they do this even if the school is only a few meters away.
The survey estimates that over 500,000 male students and more than 250,000 girls use private transportation.
One father said he shuttles between the three different schools attended by his two sons and a daughter and spends an average of 120 minutes on the road. This includes 90 minutes in the midday rush hours and 30 minutes in the light early morning traffic, the paper said.
It quoted the man as saying he had to take leave from work and brave the chaotic streets to ferry his children to and from school — which cost him some SR300 a month.
Other parents spend even more time, with one father claiming he spent four hours every day taking his children around.
The paper said many parents wanted a public school transport system to end what it called their “daily suffering”.
Parents said they were willing to pay anywhere between SR300 and SR1,200 per month depending on number of children and distances covered.
However, some anxious parents would only agree to let their children use public transport if drivers were old, accompanied by their wives, and buses had air-conditioning.
An estimated 350,000 cars ply the streets of major Saudi cities every day carrying children to and from school. Results include traffic jams, accidents and air pollution.
