Investigation – Ayman Shakal

Solutions from the experts’ point of view: integrated transportation, changing society’s culture, and emphasizing driver’s licenses

High population density and project growth are not sufficient to cope with the increase in vehicles

“Transportation”: Buses cover 77% of populated areas… and one million passengers per month

Road and transportation experts confirmed that the problem of traffic congestion does not have a magic formula, especially with the high population density and the reluctance of people in Bahrain to use public transportation, and the decline in encouragement to use it as a better means than a private car, explaining that the solution lies in the combined efforts of all parties related to the problem. While citizens explained that the problem is a shared responsibility between the concerned authorities, individuals, society’s culture and its behavior in the streets.

Firstly, Bahrain witnessed an increase in the population density of Bahrain by 16.5%, as the total population density in the Kingdom of Bahrain reached 1,979.1 people per square kilometer, compared to 1,697.4 people in 2014, and the capital, Manama, had the highest population density at about 6,792.3 people per square kilometer. , followed by Muharraq with a rate of 3855.4 people per square kilometer, then the Northern Governorate, with a rate of 2855 people per square kilometre, while the Southern Governorate came in fourth place with a population density of 657.13 people per square kilometre, and Bahrain is considered the sixth highest country in the world in terms of population density, After Macau, Monaco, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Gibraltar.

Methods are developing very quickly

When talking about roads in the Kingdom; The statistics of the Road Planning and Design Department at the Ministry of Public Works reveal that the length of paved roads in the Kingdom increased to 4,543 kilometers by the end of 2022, compared to 3,714 kilometers by the end of 2018, a rate of 86% in 2022, while 829 kilometers of roads were paved from 2019 until the end of 2022. .

The Ministry of Public Works does not stop developing, expanding and paving more roads in the Kingdom. Over the past five years, it has completed dozens of strategic projects aimed at relieving traffic congestion, while Al-Watan has monitored 15 projects in progress that the Ministry continues to work on, and these constructions are being carried out by the Ministry. The Ministry of Public Works has seen a steady increase in the number of vehicles traveling on these roads day after day, as recently issued Traffic Department statistics revealed an increase in the number of licensed cars and trucks to more than 727 thousand vehicles.

As the number of vehicles increases, traffic accidents increase accordingly, despite the efforts of the Ministry of Interior and the Traffic Department to streamline traffic around the clock, and at peak times.

Through monitoring traffic accidents, the Public Prosecution published statistics on its social media accounts about traffic accidents recorded for the first eight months of 2022, which numbered 46,000 traffic accidents. Last year, 44 deaths resulting from traffic accidents were recorded, while injuries were 1,228 in 2022. Last July alone, traffic accidents amounted to 3,822 traffic accidents, according to the latest statistics issued by the Ministry of Interior.

What did the Ministry of Transportation provide?

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications website showed that the coverage of the bus network is approximately 77% of the populated areas in the Kingdom, and the number of passengers reaches about one million passengers per month.

According to the Ministry’s latest statistics on its website for the year 2021, the development of more than 296 public transit bus stops in the Kingdom of Bahrain has been completed, and the Ministry has completed the establishment of 26 air-conditioned stations.

Practical experience from Al-Watan colleagues

However, through practical experience, we find that using buses does not serve the citizen or resident in quickly reaching his goal, as a colleague in the “Online” department, Marwan Hatem, tried to use the bus to reach the newspaper from Al-Juffair to Umm Al-Hassam, a distance that does not take more than 20 minutes on foot. On foot, the bus he took took him around several areas until it reached Umm Al Hassam after 40 minutes, which shows the lack of practicality of buses in many cases.

As for the Bahrain Metro project, the metro network has been determined to be 109 kilometers long and will be implemented in several phases. The first phase of the project will include the construction of two lines, 29 kilometers long, with 20 stops. The first line will connect Bahrain International Airport and the Seef District, while the other line will connect the Juffair area and the educational district in the city.

The Ministry is currently working on the transitional phase of the project with a coalition of consulting companies to work on reviewing previous studies, preparing tender documents for prequalifying contractors, and appointing the developer implementing the project. The pre-qualification tender was launched and closed in May 2022, and work is underway to evaluate all bids submitted by Ministry.

In addition, the metro network for the first phase will be connected to the King Hamad International Passenger Station through the first phase, which will be 8 kilometers long using 4 stops. The Ministry is also working on studying the second phase of the project by linking the King Hamad International Passenger Station in the Ramli area to the Sports City and the Convention and Exhibition Center in the Sakhir area, with a length of 18 kilometers using 5 stops.

Delivery vehicles crowd people in the streets

On the parallel side, the demand for used cars increased in the car market, while the streets were filled with motorcycles that ran between the cars day and night to deliver orders of all kinds, a profession that spread like wildfire, and became a market that carries more problems in the issue of traffic congestion, after… The problem of precautionary measures to combat the Corona virus has caused a doubling of the demand for this service, and an increase in its revenues for workers in this field.

Citizens: Traffic is a societal responsibility and the multiplicity of vehicles is a culture that must change

Citizen Lulwah Al-Marran pointed out the daily congestion that half of the population of the Kingdom of Bahrain suffers from, in front of schools at all levels, and described it as a clash between vehicles and their owners, each of whom wants to deliver his children and get out of the focus of the clash as quickly as possible.

Al-Maran said that some people try to outmaneuver others by inappropriately exceeding their roles, which may sometimes cause unnecessary skirmishes, because the time taken by this person who oversteps others will not take more than two minutes in the worst case.

Al-Maran confirmed that the General Traffic Department is making tremendous efforts in crowded areas, especially in front of schools, which contributes significantly to solving a chronic problem.

Jassim Boutabniya also pointed to a prevailing culture in society, which is the presence of a car for every person in one house. He attributed the reason for this to the ease of owning a car and the difficulty of finding alternative and effective means of transportation. However, he called for reducing this number of vehicles in one house and for citizens to rely on one or two cars. Just to satisfy their needs.

Boutabniya also pointed out behaviors that have been observed by some people recently, especially when the main streets are crowded, where some vehicle drivers use the emergency line and rush their vehicles at high speed on a narrow lane, which may cause accidents. He said that the Traffic Department warned against these behaviors and took action. Deterrent measures have been taken against violators, but some still violate, which requires tougher punishment.

Solutions from the experts’ point of view

Regarding solutions to the problem of traffic congestion, the researcher and former head of the Center for Road Studies at the University of Bahrain, engineer Reem Akbari, confirmed that there is no magic recipe to solve this problem, pointing out that what the Ministry of Works is doing in terms of developing roads and areas, stimulates people’s appetite by converting new areas into complexes. Commercial facilities, recreational facilities, private schools, kindergartens, and nurseries. All of these projects help exaggerate the problem and increase the burden on the roads and thus on the Ministry of Works. The Ministry appears as if it is not keeping pace with population development.

Akbari said that the situation requires the combined efforts of all relevant parties, developing strategic plans for the areas, and determining the categories of each complex so that this does not affect traffic movement and increase pressure on areas due to the services established in them.

The researcher called for a meeting of the ministries related to licensing establishments and granting commercial records, as well as the Ministry of Transportation with the Ministry of Works and Urban Planning, as well as the Traffic Department, before starting to develop an area, stressing that the problem is complex and everyone shares the responsibility to develop solutions to it together.

Akbari pointed out the role of the Ministry of Transportation in this issue, noting that Bahrain was a pioneer in the field of public transportation in the Gulf region, and only buses for the schools and institutions in which they worked were available to students or employees. She said: “Bahrain has long provided transportation for students in all schools.” Likewise, the University of Bahrain. At the beginning of my life, I used transportation to go to work, and I used public transportation, but today the culture of society has changed and institutions have begun to replace public transportation with a transportation allowance to get rid of the burden of vehicle maintenance, hiring drivers, and establishing an administration that can be dispensed with in exchange for a small allowance given to the employee. This encouraged people to own private cars.”

The researcher also pointed out a major problem facing public transportation in Bahrain, especially in the summer, which causes people to refrain from using it for transportation, as the hot weather does not allow a citizen or resident to walk a distance of 100 meters under direct sunlight in order to reach the public bus stop, and wait. Until the bus arrives while he can buy a car at an average price that will spare him this suffering.

She also pointed out the number of car agencies that have increased in the Kingdom and provides the citizen with wide options for obtaining a private car, so much so that every home today has an average of between two and four cars, while she also pointed out that using taxis in Bahrain is considered a luxury or what can be afforded. It is called the “last solution,” which a citizen may resort to once or twice if a problem occurs with his car.

Akbari called for tightening access to a driver’s license, as statistics showed that the General Traffic Department had issued more than 43,000 private licenses and more than 4,000 motorcycle driving licenses in 2022, compared to more than 42,000 private licenses in 2021, and 2,380. Motorcycle driving licence.

The researcher proposed setting a ceiling on profits from bringing cars through agents, provided that a deducted amount is paid from the sale of each car, which is used to study and find solutions to traffic congestion.

For his part, Professor of Roads and Transport, Dr. Rashid Al-Madani, pointed out that engineering solutions exist, but they need to be activated and moved to reach the solutions, pointing to what is called “integrated transportation,” which Bahrain lacks. He explained that it boils down to creating an integrated relationship between the means of transportation in the country so that it can The citizen or resident can find the most appropriate solution to reach his destination in a better way. He said that most people in the world depend on integrated transportation, which varies between buses, metro, minibuses, and public transportation.

Dr. Al-Madani stated that Bahraini society relies to a large extent on private cars for daily transportation, while less than 0.5% of society uses public transportation in Bahrain, while in contrast the rate of increase in cars in the Kingdom rises annually between 7-7.5% and roads cannot be increased at the same time. The increase is not even 4%, which is very expensive. He stressed the importance of giving priority to public transportation and encouraging people to use it as an effective alternative to private cars.

Regarding the metro project to be built in Bahrain, Dr. Al-Madani pointed out that the idea has been on the table since 1987, when a senior official in the Ministry of Works spoke about it at the Roads Union Conference held at that time in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and then it returned to the forefront again in 1998 when it was presented in a symposium. It was held by the Society of Engineers about public transportation in Bahrain and it was stated that there is a plan to establish a metro in Bahrain.

He said: “The simplest European cities have had a metro for a long time, and despite being small cities, the project is still successful for them and represents the backbone of transportation for citizens.”