The bad news is that Jordan’s Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) was suspended last year amid concerns about the associated cost and feasibility. Although the multimillion dollar project would have considerably reduced traffic and smog in capital Amman, details of the system conceived by the Greater Amman Municipality in 2009 are still being ironed out. […]
After a rough time in Tunis, Tafline pushed past a culture shock hangover to appreciate Tunisia’s second largest city. When the bus stopped at the station in Sfax, 170 miles from Tunisia’s capital city, I seriously considered getting back on and heading as far south – away from civilization – as I could get. But […]
According to local engineers, the public needs to show its support for Jordan’s ambitious Bus Rapid Transit to help it overcome political barriers Over a year ago, we reported (with considerable excitement) that Jordan was planning to deal with the growing congestion of the capital city by establishing a new line of buses. These high-capacity […]
Public transportation shuts down completely on the Jewish Sabbath across Israel, but now Tel Aviv (Israel’s secular capital) wants to allow buses within the city on Saturdays. It’s a bit of a paradox: Saturday is the one day that Israelis universally have off from work, but it is also the only day that public transportation […]
This graphic shows other ways to spend the $2.4 billion planned for what critics call Morocco’s luxury high speed rail project A group of Moroccan Non-Government Organizations have launched the Stop TGV campaign in protest of Morocco’s $2.4 billion high speed rail project. The TGV line is expected to link up Casablanca with Tangiers by […]
Eco-tourists may be able to get to see these underwater creatures in Eilat faster due to the construction of a railway line from Tel Aviv. Eilat, located at the southern tip of Israel, draws both local and international tourists year-round due to its warm weather and marine biodiversity. Though not equipped with an international airport, […]
Jerusalem’s light rail may be a great way to encourage the use of public transportation, but why doesn’t it allow bikes on board? Four months ago the much anticipated Jerusalem light rail was launched after years of construction. (The future of the Tel Aviv light rail has yet to be seen.) The new light rail […]
The World Health Organization gets LEED Gold certification, a first for the Hashemite Kingdom. It’s like the Olympics, but in green building codes: The new Amman headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) just grabbed top kudos for green building: Certified Gold under Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a world standard for green […]
Palestinian artist Mohamed Abusal envisions converting Gaza’s smuggling tunnels into an underground metro system. A small handful of Bedouin families living in the Gaza Strip ran thousands of smuggling tunnels beneath the Egypt-Gaza Strip separation barrier. In part to transport weapons between Rafah in Egypt and the Rafah Palestinian refugee camp and in part to import […]
The Haramain High Speed Rail Project (HHR) in Saudi Arabia recently broke ground, which bodes well for the future of the Kingdom’s environmental/energy footprint. Phase II of Saudi Arabia’s 276 mile Haramain High Speed Rail Project (HHR) is now underway. The Kingdom is getting 35 swanky new trains and 4 stations designed by Foster + Partners […]
At least there is public transport in Dubai. Don’t get too comfy though. You’ll get fined for falling asleep. We’ve all heard stories of a friend of a friend who was in some remote country: the friend did something perfectly normal in his home country, like walk on the grass, only to be fined by […]
Could a bike sharing system work in Beirut? Bicycle sharing has become all the rage in certain cities in the past few years, ever since the Parisians got the trend going with the Vélib’ shared bike rental system approximately three years ago. In the Middle East, Nicosia implemented a bike sharing system a few weeks […]
An architect in Beirut illustrates how a small splash of color can completely transform a concrete environment. But trust us, that is just the beginning of this city’s problems. I judge a country by its public transportation, and Sandra Rashini, an architect who held a magnifying glass over Lebanon’s colossal urban problem for Mashallah, will tell […]
Announced with much fanfare, the plans to build an new bus transit in Jordan have been quietly shelved pending further review Back in early 2011, the Jordanian government announced that it would be building a new impressive bus transit aimed at reducing congestion along Amman’s busiest routes. The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) plans entailed operating […]
Iranian environmental activists and artists are getting bolder. Recently, “tree huggers” planted these stumps on a street in the city of Kerman to protest against deforestation. Sometimes environmental activists are visionary people who take enormous personal risks. Ashley Fruno from PETA was arrested for parading around Jordan covered in nothing but lettuce. Bill McKibben and […]