In Canadian cities, the government does not control transportation through the local agencies themselves. Rather, decision-makers make land use plans that dictate areas of targeted growth and transportation networks.
On the contrary, Amman’s supply for public transit lags behind the rising demands from a growing population. In the city, there is a high dependency for personal automobiles due to insufficient existing public transit, hilly topography and a lack of political transparency and accountability. The Greater Amman Municipality created a plan to implement Bus Rapid Transit (BRT); however, construction halted before completion due to inadequate public support/engagement and municipal funding.
Above is a glimpse of the sheer number of cars on the road. The city is highly car oriented/dependent.
Getting around Amman, taxis/Ubers are a lot cheaper than they are in North America. For less than 3JD, we travelled a considerable distance from West Amman to East Amman (at a rate of 0.14JD/km). We chose to take these modes of transportation over buses as they were more convenient and efficient.
Below are some tips for getting around Amman:
- Ubers provide more predictable pricing as taxis may overcharge foreigners.
- Uber drivers may cancel trips if there are closer potential riders which may be frustrating.
- Some drivers may pretend to be Uber/taxi drivers. Check the license plate before getting on and ask who the driver is for!