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the Middle East and North Africa
BOX 3.8
FIGURE B3.8.1
Trips by Public Transportation as a Share of Total Motorized Trips in Selected Cities Worldwide and in the Middle East and North Africa
Hong Kong SAR, China, 2012 Prague, 2012 Singapore, 2012 Tokyo, 2012 Barcelona, 2012 Seoul, 2012 London, 2012 Berlin, 2012 Brussels, 2012 Madrid, 2012 Taipei, Taiwan, China, 2012 Oran, 2010 Tehran, 2017 Paris, 2012 Tabriz, 2016 Mashhad, 2015 Sfax, 2012 Alexandria, 2015 Tangiers, 2014 Dubai, 2017 Shiraz, 2015 Amman, 2017 Agadir, 2013 Fex, 2011 Marrakesh, 2008 Kuwait, 2009 Abu Dhabi, 2015 Riyadh, 2016 Beirut, 2009 Muscat, 2017 Bahrain, 2017 Jeddah, 2013 Constantine, 2010 Doha, 2016 Madinah, 2018 22.11 21.0 19.80 18.0 16.35 14.31 13.51 10.21 10
5.0 4.49 2.86 2.06 2.0 1.74 1.46 1.07 1.04 <1.0 0.43 56.97 53.23 49.92 48.43 47.40 45.61 43.53 41.22 40.0 38.0 35.13 34.13 33.33 67.51 82.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
PT model share
Middle East and North Africa cities Other regions
Source: Adapted from UITP 2019. Note: Data for cities outside the Middle East and North Africa region are 2012 data, taken from the 2015 International Association of Public Transport (UITP) Mobility in Cities database. Among Middle East and North Africa cities, those with modal split data older than 10 years are excluded in this benchmarking, which refers to the share of trips by public transportation (PT) in comparison to overall motorized trips. This means that trips by nonmotorized modes (for example, by walking or bike) are not considered. Owing to data limitations, the figure does not include either Cairo or Algiers, where PT was used for around two-thirds of motorized trips (according to UITP data from 2001 and 2004, respectively). Furthermore, other cities such as Marrakesh and Rabat in Morocco feature high shares of walking in their overall modal split.
BOX 3.8
Projects in the Pipeline Many of the region’s countries have recently stepped up their game to extend their public transportation systems, and numerous projects are currently in the pipeline (UITP 2019):
• In the Mashreq, several countries are investing heavily. The Islamic Republic of Iran is expanding its national rail network, and major cities like Tehran, Shiraz, Mashhad, and Tabriz are extending their urban public transportation systems, including projects involving their metro networks, inner-city bus lines, and rail lines. Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon are all looking to extend their national railway systems as well as intercity bus services connecting major cities, and urban projects for intracity public transportation systems are on the rise.
• In the Maghreb, notable projects include the metro extension in Algiers (already a city with one of the region’s highest shares of public transportation trips).
Africa’s first high-speed line—connecting
Tangier with Kenitra in Morocco— opened in November 2018 and represents an important cornerstone of the kingdom’s 2040 rail strategy. And the Tunisian railway expansion connects Gabès and Medenine with an extension to Port
Zavis near Djerba Island.
• In the GCC, countries are investing heavily in their public transportation systems to increase their low modal shares, with several projects in major cities like Doha, Muscat, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, among others. The Riyadh Metro system constitutes the largest single-phase metro construction project worldwide and was set to open, at least partially, in 2021. The final system will include six lines totaling about 170 kilometers of rails connecting various parts of the Saudi capital, at a total project cost of about US$24.4 billion (Smith 2020). To complement the metro system, a citywide 1,900-kilometer bus network with around 3,000 stops is also being developed. These measures constitute an important step to rebalance the current modal split, where only 2 percent of motorized trips are by public transportation (Smith 2020).
The Cairo Model Cairo has one of the most extensive public transportation systems in the Middle East and North Africa and continues to extend it. Cairo is not part of the sample shown in figure B3.8.1 because of data constraints, but already in 2001, two-thirds of motorized trips taken were by public transportation (UITP 2019).
Since then, public transportation services have been extended further, and the ongoing metro extension is a notable example. Despite the difficult situation caused by the COVID-19 crisis, the fourth phase of line 3 was opened in August 2020, connecting the Heliopolis suburb with the Adly Mansour transit hub in the east of Cairo.
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BOX 3.8
Extensions of the line—in the east to Cairo International Airport and to the west across the Nile—are under construction. Construction of line 4 should start shortly (Burroughs 2020).
Cairo officials also seek to expand other means of public transportation to incorporate Cairo’s surrounding areas. Several projects to introduce monorail or light-rail trains are under review, with a potential length of more than 150 kilometers. The introduction of special lanes to facilitate wider adoption of both buses and bicycles is in the planning stage.
activity by residents. As noted earlier, the comorbidities that AAP shares with low physical activity and obesity exacerbate the health effects of the individual risk factors. Therefore, making cities more walkable advances an important option for nonmotorized transportation.
Nonmotorized options are increasing in importance internationally as well as in the Middle East and North Africa. Some cities, such as Paris, have made great strides in the extension of nonmotorized alternatives by extending bicycle lanes. In the Middle East and North Africa, infrastructure that supports nonmotorized transportation is still in its infancy, but initiatives like bike-sharing services are also on the rise. There are several such services in Iranian cities (Therna, Shiraz, Mashhad, and Tabriz); in several cities in the GCC countries (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Kuwait, and Kaec); and in Byblos in Lebanon, El Gouna in Egypt, and Marrakesh in Morocco (UITP 2019).
To make nonmotorized transportation options safe, it is essential to ensure that the roads are safe for users of these options and for pedestrians. A viable way to promote the wider adoption of bicycles in the region’s cities would be the extension of safe cycling paths, which could come in combination with special lanes reserved for buses. However, lanes that combine buses and bicycles lead to relatively frequent close interactions between them, posing a danger to cyclists and potentially increasing the incidence of bicycle accidents. Hence, guidelines for the design of such lanes should be thoroughly explored and refined to ensure safety of all road users, especially bicyclists (De Ceunynck et al. 2017).
Furthermore, a range of potential urban geographical issues or cultural challenges facing female cyclists must be considered when designing traffic systems and policies to promote the broader adoption of cycling in the region. Increasing the walkability of cities requires not
