JEDDAH, 17 October 2006 — On a typical Ramadan day, Saudi streets, roads, bridges and alleyways are full of cars, trucks and buses driven by impatient drivers that add to the noise and air pollution.
Jeddah streets are not designed to accommodate an increase in cars. The streets in the Red Sea port city were designed decades ago and were developed with an aim of serving a limited number of cars. The population in Saudi Arabia is increasing and the numbers of cars are increasing too. However, the streets in Jeddah remain outdated, Al-Madinah newspaper said in a recent report.
People spend hours in traffic jams, waiting for signals to change and many people simply end up missing their appointments and arrive at work late. Some people blame police officers saying they need to be trained. Others, however, blame the municipality and the Transportation Ministry.
The issue is getting serious, especially since these crowded roads are not small back streets but rather the main thoroughfares including Madinah Road, King Fahd Street, Palestine Road, Tahlia Street, Hera Street and Sari Street.
According to a study by the College of Engineering at King Abdul Aziz University, the number of vehicles in Jeddah streets has increased more than 500 percent. The study, which was conducted by Muhammad Saud Al-Balawi, said the vehicles make six million trips daily instead of 700,000 trips 20 years ago. Some 300,000 vehicles are imported annually into the Kingdom.
Some people suggest that the traffic police should ban cars from driving to malls that do not provide ample parking space. These people believe that cars should be stopped from parking outside smaller stores and buildings that do not provide parking.
“It is always crowded in Jeddah but it gets worst during Ramadan. It takes an hour or maybe more to drive from the southern areas of Jeddah to the north. The authorities need to provide solutions to these problems,” said Jeddah resident Ahmad Al-Ghamdi.
Fahad Rajeh, another Jeddah resident, calls for a better-organized traffic system especially in areas where there are shopping malls and markets.
Saad Al-Itaibi agrees, “The traffic police need to set strict rules so as to ensure traffic jams stop occurring. Shopping malls should be forced to make sure there are enough parking spaces.” He called on the authorities to build more bridges and develop better plans to help ease the traffic flow.
Khalid Bahisn, another Jeddawi, said, “Jeddah is one of the biggest cities in the Kingdom, not to forget that its population is rapidly increasing and cars, as a result, are increasing too.”
The head of the traffic department in Jeddah, Muhammad Al-Qahtani said that the streets of Jeddah are severely suffering because of a mammoth increase in cars on the roads. “There are 87 officers and 1,532 police personnel deployed to help organize traffic in Jeddah during Ramadan,” he said.
“Of course the buying and selling that takes place in streets do affect the traffic flow. However, in most cases the police officers help by providing alternating routes to people. The problem is that people tend to go out at relatively the same time,” he added.
Al-Qahtani also suggested decentralization of utilities ensuring that places where people crowd are kept at a distance from each other. “We can have different locations for governmental offices and hospitals,” he said.
Al-Qahtani said the Kingdom would soon be implementing a new traffic system. “The new system will be an electronic system that will guide and direct drivers to less crowded roads,” he added.
“The traffic department cooperates with different government agencies including the municipality to help ease the problem. We have increased the number of staff and working hours, we have also distributed them in different areas of Jeddah especially the most crowded times and places.”
Al-Qahtani said his officers do not feel comfortable about enforcing traffic rules especially at the time before iftar. “We have cooperated with charity organizations so as to distribute iftar meals in streets to reduce the tension of drivers,” he said.
Traffic jams are not just limited to Jeddah; in fact this is a phenomenon that is spreading all over the Kingdom. If we are to give excuses for Makkah and Madinah — where many people come at the same time on pilgrimage — we are still left with many cities that have serious traffic problems.
Riyadh — the crowded capital of the Kingdom — also suffers from similar problems as that in Jeddah.
Abdul Rahman Al-Mukbil, the head of Riyadh traffic department, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the traffic police are working tirelessly to increase the level of security and management of traffic during Ramadan. “We have increased the number of police officers in the streets, especially in streets that are most likely to get crowded. This helps ensure a sense of peace and safety for citizens.”
Ali Al-Dibaiki, the head of the Traffic and Accident Section in Riyadh, said that his section has increased the number in staff during Ramadan by 60 percent.
It is a similar situation in Dammam in the Eastern Province. In spite of traffic officers, the city’S streets are always crowded. Some citizens have complained about the lack of parking in many malls and about the projects that took place in streets freezing traffic.
Khalid Al-Jawfan, the head of the traffic department in the Eastern Providence has told Al-Watan daily that they are making all the necessary steps to smooth the traffic flow during Ramadan. Over a thousand car accidents have occurred in the Eastern Province so far this Ramadan resulting in 140 deaths.
