Back in May, France signed a decree to donate 50 buses to Lebanon to help with the country’s transportation issues. Now, finally, those buses are starting to hit the streets.
According to the Caretaker Minister for Public Works and Transport, Ali Hamie, the 28 drivers who have been assigned by the railway office are being paid a salary of 2.4 million LL per month (roughly $53 on today’s parallel market rate).
The director-general of the Office of Railways and Public Transport, Ziad Nasr, told L’Orient-Le Jour that only 10 of the 50 buses donated will be put into circulation on 4 routes across the Greater Beirut area according to these routes:
Line #1
Begins: Nahr el-Mot
Ends: Central Military Club, Ain Mreisseh
Route: Dora roundabout – Karantina – Forum de Beirut – Charles Helou Avenue – Rafik Hariri Street (St. George Hotel) – Mina el-Hosn – Paris Street – Manara – Central Military Club
Opposite direction:
Begins: Cola
Ends: Nahr el Mot
Route: Corniche Mazraa – Barbir – National Museum – Adlieh roundabout (Justice Palace), Corniche el-Nahr, Dora/Nahr el-Mot
Line #3
Begins: Martys’ Square, Downtown
Ends: Damour
Route: Weygand Street – Omar Daouk Street – General Fouad Chehab street – Salim Slem – Hafez el-Assad Street – Kuwait Embassy roundabout – Imam Moussa Sadr Street – Ouzai – Khaldeh – Naameh – Damour (near Chouf bridge)
Line #4
Begins: Nahr el Mot
Ends: Khaldeh
Route: Dora roundabout – Karantina – Forum de Beirut – Beirut river – Pierre Gemayel Corniche – Adlieh roundabout (Justice Palace) – Sami el-Solh Avenue – Furn el-Chebbak – Chevrolet crossroads (south of Beirut) – Camille Chamoun Boulevard – Semaan Gallery – Hadath – el-Kafa’at – Lebanese University – Kfarchima – Choueifat – Khaldeh bridge – Khaldeh (coast road near the Islamic University)
Line #6
Begins: Adlieh roundabout (Justice Palace)
Ends: Lebanese University in Hadath
Route: Railways Office in Mar Mikhael – Corniche el-Nahr – Adlieh roundabout – Tayyouneh roundabout – Hadi Nasrallah road – Bir Abed – Lebanese University
These donated buses will be a great addition to the public transportation options in Lebanon and hopefully, make things a little easier for people getting around the Greater Beirut area. Especially with the per-trip rate set at 20,000 LL (equivalent to $0.44 on the parallel market).
It remains to be seen what will happen to the donated buses in the long term, as the government has a history of not properly maintaining donated vehicles.
This includes US-donated police vehicles that are often seen on the streets in a state of disrepair, as well as firefighting helicopters that were unable to be used due to a lack of maintenance during the major forest fires in 2019.
The current affordable per-trip rate for the buses may also be at risk due to the instability of fuel prices in the country.
