MADINAH: Malls in Madinah provide small, high-quality, air-conditioned buses free to Haj and Umrah visitors throughout the year.

Madinah sees many religious visitors during the year, which means they need to be transported from the central area to historical and religious places, and then to buy their needs, clothes, and presents for relatives back home.

These small vehicles are able to move about easily on roads in different neighborhoods without creating traffic congestion like larger buses, especially in the central area of the Haram.

Mohammad Saleh Al-Wasabi, a worker at one of the malls, said he is present on a daily basis in the central area to follow up on these small vehicles, ensure they fill up, and go to the mall for free.

All malls made an agreement with the drivers of these vehicles, who are paid in advance by the malls, and are told not to take any fares from religious pilgrims.

The usual price for transporting pilgrims to religious and archaeological sites varies between SR10 and SR25 according to distance. Some visitors say they would like to visit these places before they go to the malls.