JEDDAH, 22 May 2006 — Pilgrims during the Haj season will be able to enjoy reduced bus fares as a result of a royal decree, which has caused a reduction in fuel prices, said Dr. Ali ibn Hassan Nagoor, president of the Land Transportation Committee at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and executive president of Al-Jazirah Transportation Company.
Nagoor said that the Haj Transportation Company hopes to save more than SR40 million during both the Haj and Umrah seasons. He said, “During the Haj fuel for one bus alone costs SR2,500, with the new prices the cost will drop to SR1,800.”
At present there are 15 public transport companies with 15,000 buses operating in Saudi Arabia. The money saved from the fuel price reduction will be directed toward other projects to improve public transport.
Nagoor feels that the low costs will benefit both the public transport sector and the Saudi economy as a whole. He added that buses in Saudi Arabia have the highest fuel consumption in the Middle East and that the decision would improve transport budgets and performance.
Over a million foreign pilgrims from neighboring countries travel to Saudi Arabia via-buses each year. Nagoor believes bus companies from abroad will also benefit from the decision and that the reduced fuel prices may result in a price competition between local and international companies.
The executive president also outlined that finalizations are presently underway in establishing an international bus station in Jeddah at a cost of SR200 million. He said that the bus station would most probably be located at the old airport in downtown Jeddah and would operate as the main national Saudi Arabian bus station. Nagoor said, “The total capital for the project is more than SR2 billion with Haj and Umrah bus companies also participating.”
Nagoor hopes that in order to further develop this sector smaller bus companies in Jeddah will be merged. The transport president believes that such merges would end price-wars between companies.
