Saudi to restructure public transport system

Saudi Arabia’s Public Transport Authority (PTA) is planning to fix fares for inter-city travel as well as travel within cities as part of a move to restructure the public transport system in the country.

The authority will determine the cost of train and bus tickets as well as the taxi fare. It said the fixed rates would apply not only to major cities with a population exceeding one million but also to medium and small cities. It said a minimum rate would be fixed for short-distance travel while the rates for long trips would be determined based on the distance traveled.

The PTA has proposed that the cost of daily commute should not exceed five percent of a family’s daily average income while it should not exceed 10pc of income when traveling long distances in trips from small cities and suburban areas. Three types of tickets will be introduced, namely single trip tickets, low-cost season tickets, and family tickets.

A passenger will face a fine not exceeding 50 times the value of the ticket for not complying with the specified fares or traveling without tickets.