Saudi Public Transport Company (Saptco) has announced plans to begin operations at its biggest transport infrastructure project - King Abdulaziz Bus Public Transport Network in Riyadh City - during the second quarter of 2021.

 

This comes following the go-ahead given by the Public Transport Company, in which Saptco has an 80 per cent stake, in this regard.

 

In its filing to Saudi bourse Tadawul, Saptco said the project is expected to give the city a big boost, going beyond providing public transport service to all segments of the population.

 

The plan aims to provide public transport service to all categories of the population, diversifying the modes and means of transport in the city in an effective and suitable manner, keeping in mind the social, economic, environmental and traffic conditions.

 

According to a decision taken by the Council of Ministers earlier, a supreme committee would supervise the Riyadh Metro project and the construction of a parallel network for bus transport, in line with the Comprehensive Public Transport Plan laid down by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.

 

Saptco said it was coordinating with other related authorities on studying the necessary work plans to determine the project costs.

 

According to senior officials, the King Abdulaziz Bus Public Transport Network in Riyadh City consists of a modern train system network supported by a multiple feeder bus service to ease traffic congestion in the capital city which witnesses more than eight million trips daily done by more than six million commuters.

 

The bus network will be the main feeder of the Riyadh metro network. It will also be the main means of transportation within and among Riyadh districts, they stated.

 

A total of 1,000 buses of different sizes and capacities will transport 900,000 passengers per day on 24 tracks extending over 1,200 km covering the entire city of Riyadh, they added.-TradeArabia News Service