Iranian urban managers’ struggle to upgrade public transport fleet has been delayed by the country’s sanction-induced and Covid-19 enhanced economic problems.
To address the thorny issue, officials resorted to different strategies that have not always produced the desired result.
Tehran Municipality is prodding the government of President Hassan Rouhani to invest in public transportation so that urban managers could add 1,000 new buses to the capital’s public transportation fleet by the current Iranian yearend (March 2021), ISNA reported.
According to Manaf Hashemi, Tehran Municipality’s deputy for traffic and transportation affairs, the overhaul of 2,000 aging buses is also high on TM’s agenda.
Underlining the state’s role in the restoration plan, Hashemi said, “The government and the private sector have promised to finance the restoration project and work is expected to begin soon.”
Based on the arrangements, TM will first send 200 dilapidated buses to repair centers, he added.
Besides the financial aid coming from the government, TM has lately issued participatory bonds worth 15 trillion rials ($70.9 million) to help expand the capital’s public transportation system.
According to Tehran City Council, the permit to issue participatory bonds worth 300 trillion rials ($1.41 billion) was granted to Tehran Municipality last year in August for overhauling Tehran’s public transportation network.
“Of the total amount, the bank paid only a small portion to the company, leaving the rest for the last days of the issuance period,” Mohammad Alikhani, the head of TCC’s Transportation Commission, told reporters.
TM holds out hope on short-term plans to resolve part of Tehran’s public transport troubles.
Mahmoud Tarfa, the CEO of Tehran Bus Company, said that of the total 6,000 buses operating in the city’s transport fleet, over 70% are over 12 years old and dilapidated.
These old buses have numerous technical problems and cause inconvenience to passengers, apart from worsening air pollution suffocating Tehran’s residents.
Tehran is not the only city facing public transportation deficiencies. Reports show Isfahan, another crowded and polluted Iranian metropolis, is grappling with the same problems.
Public Transport in Isfahan
According to Isfahan Mayor Qodratollah Norouzi, of the total 900 buses operating in Isfahan’s public transport fleet, 10% are highly dilapidated.
He believes public transportation is neither sufficient nor efficient for 2.2 million citizens of the city.
The latest measure taken to address the problem was the addition of 80 new vehicles worth 2.25 trillion rials ($10.6 million) to the city’s bus fleet on Saturday.
To streamline the ailing bus fleet in the central province of Isfahan, municipal authorities have signed a contract with Plan and Budget Organization to restore 700 dilapidated buses by the end of the current Iranian year (March 2021), he added.
Isfahan’s mayor noted that only 50 urban buses were overhauled in Isfahan during the previous year.
“We had planned to add 35 new buses for bus rapid transit lines and 20 buses for urban lines. In addition, 30 CNG buses, which are currently out of service due to technical flaws, were supposed to be repaired and rejoin the fleet,” he said.
Norouzi hoped that the new measure will alleviate the situation in the urban public transportation system and ease commutation for the citizens of Isfahan.
Economic Headwinds
Considering the economic hardships facing Iran due to the reimposition of US sanctions, the pace of renovation of transportation fleet has slowed.
After US President Donald Trump reneged on Iran’s nuclear accord and reimposed sanctions against Tehran last summer, the Iranian rial lost almost 70% of its value over the past year.
On Monday, the US dollar was traded at 211,500 rials in Tehran while it hardly fetched 42,000 rials in March 2018.
Following the reimposition of sanctions, many foreign suppliers of vehicles and parts suspended collaboration with Iranian firms. The country cannot afford to import new buses in large numbers, as the prices of new passenger vehicles and eco-friendly motorcycles have seen a threefold jump, just like any other commodity.
This is while domestic manufacturers do not have an adequate volume of parts to boost production.
These factors have derailed schemes for overhauling the transportation fleet. However, with the help of the government and automakers, urban planners are devising solutions to implement these schemes.
The commitment of officials concerned and the timely allocation of funds will ensure that these efforts bear fruit.
