In Hollywood, no American movie is devoid of scenes inside public buses, and in various European capitals, attractive offers for young people with the aim of using public transport are increasing, almost amounting to free tickets. And, despite similar environmentally friendly Arab initiatives, the young Egyptian woman “Yasmine” has not changed her impression that it is an unsafe means of transportation.
Between the tension and the usual glances of fear, you find “Yasmine”, 32 years old, clinging to attempts to stay away from public transportation between the Giza and Cairo governorates.
She tells “Green in Arabic” how she tried for a long time not to resort to buses known in Egypt because she considers them an unregulated means of transportation that is not restricted to a specific number of passengers, which forces her to stand up inside it, thus increases the risk in the event of a collision, as well as increasing the risk of exposure for harassment or theft.
Four years ago, the young woman contracted a chronic immune disease that forced her to reduce her travel and limit herself to taxis belonging to a private company, or resort to private cars with a smaller number of passengers (micro-buses) when necessary.
It should be noted here that the Egyptian government launched a group of buses, some of which operate on gas, as environmentally friendly, in the Greater Cairo region, which includes the governorates of Cairo, Giza, and Qalyubia.
Transportation and climate
According to “Statista”, the transportation sector around the world contributes 17% of the greenhouse gas emissions that exacerbate the climate crisis, ranking second after the energy sector.
Reducing dependence on private cars and resorting to public transportation is among the most important means of trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the mental image of these means may hinder this transformation, in addition to the real reasons that make the task difficult.
Amid the world's race towards electric cars to mitigate global warming, voices have emerged warning of the ineffectiveness of maintaining the same number of vehicles.
In the United States, for example, an analysis published in the journal “Nature Climate Change” warned that replacing all gas-powered cars with electric ones would create new energy needs equal to half of the country's electricity generation capacity.
The transportation sector around the world contributes 17% of the greenhouse gas emissions that exacerbate the climate crisis, ranking second after the energy sector.
This increasing demand for electricity may affect the provision of energy needed to operate other devices such as air conditioners, which have become necessary in light of the recurrence of heat waves.
In the event of not switching to electric cars, environmental standards still favor buses, as the average emissions from cars are 0.45 kg of carbon dioxide per passenger for each mile traveled, while emissions from buses are limited to 0.08 kg for the same distance if they are operated at full capacity, according to American estimates.
An old dream
In the movie “Speed Not Exceeding Zero,” which was shown in cinemas in 1992, Abdullah “Ahmed Badir” and his wife Sanaa “Abla Kamel” move to work in the Egyptian capital, “Cairo”, only to be faced by severe crowding and the difficulty of moving on buses full of people, which prompts the two to enter into a race against time to buy a private car, but the financial costs remain an obstacle to them, and they end up being satisfied with a bicycle. But, the private car is still the dream that occupies the minds of many until now, despite the development witnessed by the transportation sector in the Arab world.
Over many decades, works of art have shown buses in a negative image, as they have been associated with crowding, suffering, crimes, and bad experiences, especially for those who go through the experience for the first time and not knowing their exact destination.
“Are you sure that the bus of “Al-Manial” comes from here?”... “It seems like a dead end street,or what?”
This is how the conversation took place between Ramzi "Ahmed Helmy" and his friend Ali "Mohamed Fouad", in one of the scenes of the Egyptian movie "A Journey of Love", before Ali was able to catch the crowded bus, while his friend ran to catch up with him to no avail.
The matter is not limited to Arab works of art. American writer “Kendra Pierre-Louis”, in a report published by the “Scientific American” website, draws attention to what screenwriters did by linking the use of buses to difficult times.
In the famous movie “Speed”, Annie “Sandra Bullock” takes a bus after her driver's license is revoked, while the heroine's car crashes in the series "Insecure" and she is forced to make the same decision.
Passenger experience
If passengers go beyond their preconceived notions established by artworks, there are still other intertwined factors that determine the most appropriate means of transportation for them, such as safety, cost, and the extent of demand for driving a private car, if any.
“N” is a photographer and works in the field of marketing on social media. She narrated to “Green in Arabic” her journey in finding the best means of transportation for her, starting with her accustomed to using “taxis”, then taxis belonging to private companies, which she saw as safer, while she sometimes resorted to public transportation.
Environmental standards favor buses more than cars, with average emissions from cars reaching 0.45 kg of carbon per passenger for every mile traveled, while bus emissions are limited to 0.08 kg for the same distance if operated at full capacity.
Later, “N,” 29 years old, learned to drive to start using the family car, but she gave it up after finding it difficult to deal with the traffic and dangers of the roads.
Over the years, and with the rise in prices, she gradually dispensed with taxis until they now became a form of luxury for her, and she resorted to them when absolutely necessary when traveling long distances due to work.
She pointed to the high prices of various forms of transportation, which prompts her to walk as much as possible to save money, in order to face the increase in fares that does not keep pace with her unstable work.
Arab crisis
The problems facing passengers on public transportation, especially women, are widespread in different countries. In Tunisia, an analysis of 4 years of data from 2011 to 2015 revealed that up to 90% of women were exposed to harassment, most of which occurred on public transportation, according to a study by the Center for Research, Studies, Documentation and Media about Women.
A report issued by the World Bank in 2022 also monitored a number of challenges facing public transportation passengers in Jordan, most notably the high cost of transportation and the decline in the level of service to the point where passengers, especially women, feel unsafe.
The proportion of women who resort to public transportation among the population of the Kingdom of Jordan is limited to one-third of the passengers, which makes entering the labor market a difficult task for large numbers who do not own private cars, and the youth group faces the same problem.
Another aspect is the increased reliance on private cars. In Kuwait, for example, every hundred Kuwaiti families own 288 cars, with a rate approaching 3 cars per family, according to official statistics.
There are other factors that affect an individual's decision to choose, as a study conducted by the Norwegian University of Agder revealed that the availability of parking spaces at workplaces discourages employees from using public transportation, according to “Science Direct”.
