Transportation has become a big problem in major Saudi cities, including Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah and Dammam, with swelling population. Traffic jams and crowded streets resulting from a lack of public transport system, except for the haphazard minibus served used mainly by expatriate laborers, inspired the forum, which will run from Dec. 17 to 20, to try to find a radical solution.

The study will include a number of recommendations to eradicate this problem. The study will also outline obstacles and causes of current transportation problems in the major cities.

Twenty-one recommendations and visions to develop the city transportation sector were presented by 46 specialists and experts from both the public and private sectors in a workshop held recently in Dammam entitled “Developing Inter-City Transportation.”

The recommendations stressed the importance of building a subway system, introducing a road-monitoring network to determine areas of traffic jams and direct vehicles to alternative routes, and establishing a road traffic association.

Participants also called for the need to support the transport sector because, in their opinion, it affects all other economic sectors. They also stressed the need to establish comfortable and safe public transportation means for women.

Transportation-related issues such as traffic jams, accidents and pollution as well as the economic, social and security impact of problems in this sector are some of the reasons that gives weight to the need for such a study to be conducted, according to the deputy chairman of the Riyadh Economic Forum's board of trustees, Hassan Al-Mullah.

The study will cite models of other countries' experiences in the field of transportation and the possibility of emulating their solutions.

A field survey and meetings with officials and citizens will also be included in the study to review recommendations and suggestions of practical methods to solve transport problems.