On another note, the current public transportation solutions are deplorable, even with decent lines and bus stops, commuting in buses will not affect congestion and will not allow us to get to work on time.
I am also afraid that the proposed water taxi and ferries will not be accessible to the general public cos i presume that the costs will be too elevated; i wouldn’t wish to see elitist transportation means.

I recently watched Abdallah Zakhem ( a Lebanese banker) on MTV discussing a shameful proposition to deal with congestion. He seemed so serious as he proposed building a 2 way / 4 lane highway 600m above sea level complete with toll booths crossing the entire mount Lebanon from north to south all the way to the bekaa. the interview made me feel so frustrated because Mr Zakhem simply ignored the environmental impact of his project. I hope he is not taken seriously.

IMO, the only way to go to relieve traffic congestion in Beirut is underground with at least one subway line (as a first step) crossing key stations in Beirut and linking its North and Southern suburbs.

I have always questioned how current public works and transport minister Mr Aridi is so keen on having a daily televised appearance to discuss the Ethiopian airlines crash tragedy and never mentions the congestion issue. It’s sad to see our ministers taking advantage of such a tragedy for campaigning.

Finally i would like to see a group of activists pushing all of these valid propositions on the to implementation. QN you should lead

I went back to Beirut after 25 plus years absence and I managed few trips with the Service and the buses, and enjoyed every minute of it. Made me feel as if I had never left, especially with the drivers’ stories, lol.

The private “Service” system as well as the limited public bus system should be more supported and expanded by the government to relief congestion in the short term, while long-term solutions are being pursued.

On the other hand it is a bad thing in the long run including for economic activity. Affordable grand solutions are quite difficult to achieve due to quite tight govenment budget.

In the meantime, some affordale measures can be taken to alleviate the problem, like:
. Installing traffic lights on as many intersections as possible
. Serious enforcement of traffic laws
. Expand existing public bus service, and make it more reliable and appealing
. Initiating a comprehensive traffic study to understand the pattern as to where folks are headed to at these hours, to be able to formulate effective solutions
. Have central government reginal offices to conduct/process paperwork, instead of having everybody always driving to Beirut
. Look at Beirut zoning vis a vis density. All these new highrises add lots of cars in an already saturated area, especially Corniche, 3in el Mreise, Hamra, Manara, Raouche, Ramlet El Baida, M3ametein, Jounieh, on and on. Traffic should be taken in consideration when adding to the density.

For long-term solutions, my preference would be for:
. Revive the coast rail line with new equipment (granted that the line/right of way is still availabe). Start small and grow bigger. Start with the heavy traffic section, between Jounieh and downtown Beirut. With future sections that stretch from Sour to Trablos
. Ferry sercive to all major coastal cities. This would not only help with commuting, but with tourism as well (which is very important in my view)
. All the ferry and train stops should have Park & Ride parking facilities, as well as service, taxi and reasonable small buses services.
. Levy a hefty new car tax to help fund a portion of the public transportation projects

For example, as someone else mentioned, there are many in Lebanese society who are more engrossed in their image than anything else and trying to get that person to leave their Hummer at home and take the bus instead is going to be a huge issue. Then there’s the sense of entitlement of some . . . those who think their entitled to block the crosswalk or double & triple park their cars. And then, there’s the problem of those who have no consideration (or in some cases knowledge) of the rules of the road . . . like the drivers who turn a 3 lane highway into a five lane highway, or those who think the lines on the road are meant to be driven ON, or those who totally ignore the fact that they’re driving in the opposite direction of traffic because they’re too lazy to go around.

The way I see it, in order to get around all those issues, we first need to implement forms of education, traffic control and enforcement. I think if we can change people’s attitudes, then getting them to take a bus, tram, ferry or train will be a heck of alot easier.

first of all, a great thanx to all bloggers who have spotted elhub and are spreading the word!
second, the project is building up in a nice way, so in order to discuss, answer questions, concerns about waves and other technical details… it would be great if we could try canalzing the discussions on elhub’s facebook so it’s available to everyone: http://www.facebook.com/pages/elhub/181187458275?v=app_2373072738&ref=ts

see you there!

http://www.blueandgoldfleet.com/Ferry/

Here’s a couple of systems on the Left Coast of the US. They are relaxing/fun to ride