WORLD> Middle East
Amman to build modern transportation system
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-22 16:14

AMMAN -- Jordanian capital of Amman is planning to introduce modern transportation system to better serve the rapid-growing population, local The Jordan Times reported Wednesday.

Amman Mayor Omar Maani said Tuesday that there is a multifaceted long-term plan by 2025, including building a metro and introducing 200-passenger electricity-driven buses.

He said that Amman residents will feel the difference in public transport services by the year 2012 when the first phase of the planned metro project is in place.

The project will be completed by 2016, he added.

The electric bus will first shuttle between downtown Raghadan and Sweileh district, and the work will start by mid-2009, he said.

"We hope that by the year 2025, the entire transportation sector in the city will be at international level," the mayor added.

According to Maani, the population in Amman is expected to rise to 6 million by the year 2025 from the current 2.2 million, while the number of vehicles has surged by 20 percent to some 780,000 during the past five years.