Global Region B3.8.1 Trips by Public Transportation as a Share of Total Motorized Trips in Selected Cities Worldwide and in

In a recent global regional comparison, the Middle East and North Africa had the third highest share of people using their own cars for transportation. The study showed that the region’s car share (the share of trips by car as a percentage of all motorized trips) amounted to 71.5 percent, the third highest share after North America and the Europe and Central Asia region (Fountas et al. 2020), as shown in figure 3.21. Weak transportation systems result in excessive use of often outdated personal vehicles, which in turn leads to high traffic intensities and congestion in the region’s cities (Waked and Afif 2012).

Extending the public transportation system requires investments in vehicle fleets such as buses and adequate associated infrastructure like special road lanes for public transportation, tram rails, and pickup stations. These efforts should be accompanied by appropriate urban planning to ensure their integration into longer-term city expansion plans. In the procurement of public transportation fleets, it is crucial to ensure that vehicles meet emissions standards (such as those discussed earlier) or preferably rely on alternative energies such as electric or hybrid engines. Some cities in the Middle East and North Africa

FIGURE 3.21

Share of All Motorized Trips Using Personal Cars, by Global Region

100

Share of all motorized trips (%) 75

50

25

0 East Asia and PacificEurope and Central Asia North AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanMiddle East and North Africa South AsiaSub-Saharan Africa

Source: Based on Fountas et al. 2020. Note: Years of data differ between countries. For a subset of countries, the share is estimated. “North America” includes Canada and the United States.

(Alexandria, Doha, Tehran, and Tunis) have already made progress in this respect by introducing electric buses in their fleets (UITP 2019), a trend that other cities should emulate.

To induce more of the population to use public transportation, prices for these services must be affordable and provide a cost advantage over using the personal car. For people without a vehicle (that is, the poorer part of the population), prices for public transportation must not be prohibitive. Removing taxes from tickets or making them tax deductible may increase the incentive to use such services. Similarly, tax exemptions for long-term subscriptions that private companies provide to employees as part of their compensation can incentivize companies to encourage their employees to use public transit.

Evidence shows that public transportation infrastructure projects have beneficial effects on air pollution in Middle East and North Africa cities. For example, the opening of a new metro line in Cairo decreased vehicle use and at the same time reduced PM10 concentrations by around 3 percent (Heger, Zens, and Meisner 2019). The extension of the urban rail transit system in the city of Ahvaz in the Islamic Republic of Iran has the potential to reduce air pollutants substantially by reducing the amount of fuel used, owing to increased ridership on the new metro lines (Tabatabaiee, Abbas, and Rahman 2011). Furthermore, increasing connectivity between cities with public transportation systems (for example, through rails) can have the added benefit, if rails are used for transporting goods, of potentially reducing the number of heavy-duty vehicles used for this purpose, hence lowering their emissions.

Extending public transportation systems to be more efficient, timely, and widely accessible could also increase job prospects for the poor. Especially among people lacking access to personal vehicles, such as lowincome households, the extension of the public transportation system could open up more job opportunities (Pang, Chen, and Zhang 2017). Living standards within these populations could be increased while also strengthening the local economy and potentially raising government tax revenues. Extending public transportation systems to cities’ underserved areas can thus help revitalize their economies by improving connectivity.

In the Middle East and North Africa and around the world, the World Bank has supported various public transportation projects. In Morocco, for example, the Bank supported the government in strengthening the capacity of urban transportation institutions in a project started in 2015. By the end of 2020, around US$186 million in the form of loans had been disbursed, and the project had achieved most of its objectives despite the adverse effects caused by the COVID-19 crisis (World Bank 2021a). Within the course of the project, municipality-owned urban transportation centers were set up, mobility master plans were prepared,