The road to more traffic

ENAR

Road transportation in Lebanon is getting steadily worse. Traffic is congested, law enforcement is sporadic, half of the country’s cars skip the annual inspection, and public transport is almost nonexistent. The good news should be that a new traffic law has been passed by Parliament, 20 vehicles to be equipped with speed radar have been ordered, and there are plans to acquire 250 public buses. There is even talk of introducing points for speeding offenses on driving licenses. The reality is that there have been negligible improvements to transportation since the Road Transport Master Plan was drawn up in 1994. “There have been some physical achievements, there are traffic lights, CCTV camera, a traffic control system, and paid parking, but real change didn’t happen, implementing a well organized public transport system that is not only buses but something additional, a light rail or metro,” says Tammam Nakkash, managing partner at