The Iranian bus manufacturing company, Shihab Khadro, has offered free passenger transportation services within the Syrian capital, Damascus, provided that it is permitted to use the sides of its buses for advertising. The Iranian company’s offer is aimed at helping Syria solve the transportation crisis in its capital.
Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper reported that the Iranian company’s offer has been among other proposals made by 55 local, Arab and international companies to improve the conditions of the inter-city transportation within the capital.
The Syrian Ministry of Transportation announced early this year a plan for improving transport in the overcrowded capital where the number of residents and people coming from other Syrian cities reach three millions during the day.
The newspaper said that by the year 2010, Damascus streets will not be able to accommodate any new cars unless the transport operations are reorganized and the public transport micro buses are relocated from the city to prevent traffic jams and reduce environmental pollution.
French, Belgian, and American companies have made other proposals to solve the transportation problems in Damascus by selling buses to Syria, or investing in the country’s transportation sector, said the report.
The new buses, after the award of the tender, will serve the main junctions in the capital which need 800 large buses to replace more than 5000 micro buses. Micro buses at present shuttle passengers day and night inside the capital -- Albawaba.com
