RIYADH, 6 July 2007 — Dammam is the most congested city in Saudi Arabia, according to a recent survey by GulfTalent, the Middle East’s leading online recruitment portal. The survey of 5,000 professionals in 14 major cities in the Middle East, which was conducted during May 2007 as part of an exercise to understand the key issues affecting employees at work, found that the Kingdom’s major cities are seeing a growing congestion problem.
The report found that professionals working in Dammam spend on average 55 minutes a day commuting to and from their place of work. Jeddah, by contrast, saw the lowest reported commuting time, with employees spending on average just 46 minutes each day commuting.
The survey also revealed that some of the investment in transport infrastructure has, in the short term, exacerbated the problem of congestion due to ongoing construction work and resulting diversions and road blockages.
Moreover, large cities in the Kingdom suffer from a shortage of parking, with Riyadh featuring on top of the list, and many people say they have difficulties in finding parking space near their place of work. The survey found that many people in Riyadh leave home much earlier than necessary to avoid the morning rush and secure a parking space close to their place of work.
Dammam was the easiest city in the Kingdom to find parking space, with only 21 percent of people surveyed reporting shortages. The survey findings highlighted that the recent oil-driven economic boom, combined with greater availability of auto financing and a lack of a modern public transport network, have led to greater demand for private transport and a sharp rise in people buying cars across the Kingdom.
