Al-Jazirah

NO two people can differ about the significance of the public transport, which is an easy means of moving inside or between cities. It alleviates traffic congestion and reduces environmental pollution.

To be successful, the public transport should be well designed and should have a sufficient number of population to serve.

By the good design I mean that the network of railways or roads should cover the entire country.

I was happy when the Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR) launched the North Train. It is extending from Riyadh to the extreme northern border.

The train succeeded in its first stage connecting Riyadh with the Qassim region. The evidence of this is the large number of passengers.

However, the passengers started complaining of three things: The high cost of tickets, non-availability of seats most of the time, and no consideration for the low-income people, students, beneficiaries of social security and people with special needs.

Sometimes a passenger may suddenly decide to travel. In other countries, the passenger will always find a seat on any train at any time. There are trains every hour or even every 30 minutes.

All the countries of the world take into consideration these categories of people. They have special reduced prices for them. These prices are usually very low and symbolic to their meager incomes.

They also provide people with special needs with special tracks, toilets, car parks and other services at extremely symbolic prices or no charge at all.

These are definitely advanced countries that care very much for the welfare, comfort and convenience of their people.

The public transport companies do not usually make a lot of profits. So the government or the private sector should not expect to gain much from this sector. It will be enough for the government and the private sector to cover their expenses and to make small profits for the stakeholders.

The vital thing here is that we should give more attention to the public transport sector even if we do not make profits out of it.

This sector is for our people, their comfort and well being. It is not a money-generating business.