In virtually every city in the world, there is a convenient and comfortable public transportation system used by rich and poor, residents and visitors. Unfortunately the “Bride of the Red Sea” — as Jeddah’s inhabitants like to call their city — is an exception. Apart from the outdated mini-buses — known as “hafilat” — which are not bound to any route or schedule and which stop anywhere and anytime to pick up or drop a passenger, Jeddah has nothing to offer which would qualify as a modern transportation system.
In its simplest form, public transport comprises all kinds of transport in which people do not travel in their own vehicles. Also known as public transit or mass transit, the system is generally taken to refer to bus and rail services. Since we have no rail system serving our cities, we should at least have developed a bus service that makes it easy for people to reach their destinations in a reasonable time and as comfortably as possible. The sad truth is that the shortest journey in Jeddah these days takes three to four times longer than what it should.
What is even more puzzling is that the city’s streets are congested at all hours; there does not seem to be a peak time for congestion — congestion is more or less constant. Throughout the day and late into the night, Jeddah’s streets are full of vehicles of every kind and size, giving the impression that people here live in their cars instead of the cars taking them someplace. The problem is compounded further by the lack of respect for traffic and safety rules, making driving a daily nightmare.
With the boom in the past, many people nowadays can barely make ends meet, let alone afford a car. It is a common phenomenon on our streets today seeing people raising their hands — not to stop taxis but private vehicles to transport them at less than half of what a taxi would cost. In some cases, a passenger might find a private car with others going his way for only SR2 or even SR1.
In a city such as Jeddah, public transport is needed to get people comfortably from one place to another, especially on summer days when it is almost impossible to walk in the scorching heat and high humidity. Within the central area, buses would be the most convenient and widespread mode of transport.
