AMMAN — The
transport system is critical to economic growth and prosperity. It is
used to access jobs, educational institutions, shopping, recreation, and as
such, it is a basic human right that the government has the obligation to
fulfill.
Hazem Zureiqat, a consultant in the field of
transport and traffic, told
Jordan News that “for decades, our transport
system has been relying primarily on the private car; we have been investing in
and expanding our road infrastructure to accommodate private means of
transportation”.
The transport system, he added, should provide
equitable access and mobility to all. It should be “reliable, affordable and
comfortable to users” and “to achieve this reliability, many services need to
be subsidized”, he said.
Legislative changes that would make possible such a
subsidy have been made, but have not taken effect, he said, adding: “The
Passenger Transport Law No. 19/2017 mentioned the establishment of a Passenger
Transport Support Fund which is funded through various sources, including a
JD0.02 fee imposed on the price of every liter of gasoline and diesel sold in
Jordan. This fund has still not come to fruition more than five years after the
law came into effect.”
While large-scale
projects, such as the
Bus Rapid Transit project, and the acquisition of new
buses are essential to improving the service, Zureiqat said that “we also need
to work on existing services and on establishing service quality standards and
the financial and legislative fundamentals that ensure that all these services
are successful and sustainable.”
“Once public
transport services become a viable option, consideration should be given to
imposing limitations on using the private car, at least in some areas. We need
a mobility system that is more balanced. We cannot continue in the current
trajectory of 6–7 percent annual increase in car ownership, or else we will
reach complete deadlock,” he stressed.
Analyst and economic journalist Salama Al-Daraawi
told
Jordan News that governments in the last five years “have not
crystallized a clear strategy with regard to public transportation, despite the
speeches indicating that transportation will be one of the most important axes
of interest due to its economic impact”.
According to Daraawi, the transport sector suffers
greatly as a result of the high prices of fuel, which caused huge losses to
operators in this sector, and this makes it incumbent on the government to
intervene and support the transport sector.
“The decision to allocate JD5 million as financial
support to the sector is insufficient and does not cover the minimum losses
incurred by it,” he said.
Former minister of transport
Lina Shbeeb told
Jordan
News that an acceptable public transport service must have “regular and
continuous times”, and “provide the service in a guaranteed way for the user,
and this requires support to cover the cost without raising the tariff for the
citizen”.
Support for the sector, she said, “will be reflected
in human and economic development”.
Abla Al-Washah, Land Transport Regulatory Commission
spokesperson, said that the commission strategy is bound to stimulate economic
growth and is committed to providing the best services to citizens at
affordable costs.
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