[sustran] Buses in Saudi Arabia

[Alan P Howes]

In case anyone is interested - 

On Sun, 07 May 2000 17:28:01 +1200, David  McLoughlin
<davemcl at iprolink.co.nz> wrote to me:

>I take it Saudis don't use the buses? How bizarre. In India, the urban
>middle classes use the buses -- the poor can't afford them, and must walk.

V. few Saudis use urban buses - though the rural ones do use the
long-distance ones. In fact, the poorest workers probably find our
urban services expensive, at a flat fare of S.Riyals 2.00, vs. wages
of SR 500 per month or even less for South Asian labour. Which is why
I reckon we should reduce our fares. (The minibus competition also
runs at SR 2 - but they run 110% full, we run at about 30% - and they
could not afford to drop their fares.)

Have to say I don't use the buses much here. The network is wrong, the
service unreliable, the buses 20 years old, ...   Tomorrow, I am about
to try once again to persuade our CEO that it is worth investing
effort (leave aside money for now) in the Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam
urban services. In Riyadh we recover 70% of marginal costs (including
depreciation). I believe without too much effort we could improve that
to 100%.

>Are the buses where you are air-conditioned? The Indian urban ones are not!
Long distance, yes. About 50% of the urban fleet (Neoplan 414s) has
A/C, but it is all retro-fitted, and is a maintenance problem. Hence
the A/C buses tend to be saved for contracts, and pilgrim work in
Makkah (Mecca), leaving main urban service to the non-A/C ones.

[And some non-transport interest ...]

>No. I would like to visit Saudi Arabia but I don't see it as a tourist
>destination, I would do that as a jo-rn-li-t to observe the country and
>write about it. Many New Zealanders such as nurses and engineers go there
>for work, to earn the huge bucks, but that's all.

And of course, jo-rn-li-ts are not particularly welcome here. Despite
which, my abaya-ed (but unveiled) wife was strolling with her friends
near the said souq yesterday when they were pounced on and interviewed
by a guy from the BBC! Seems he was here to cover Saudi-British
business, and thought he would do some local colour stuff on the side.
I would like to know if and where it surfaces! The lady who did the
talking had better be careful!

Cheers, Alan.
-- 
GIVE ON-LINE FOR MOZAMBIQUE - http://www.christian-aid.org.uk/f_africa.htm

Alan & Jacqui Howes, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Formerly Perthshire, Scotland)
alanhowes at usaksa.com
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/alanhowes/  [Needs Updating!]

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