Beirut’s traffic system clearly wasn’t designed for traffic. At busy parts of the day one might as well walk to the other side of the city. It would surely be quicker. I would also say it would be healthier, If it wasn’t for fumes generated by the unrelenting stream of cars that populates the place. It is quite ridiculous.
Beirut is on it’s way to becoming quite beautiful. It has it’s charming old buildings, and a selection of shiny new ones. Some parts of town remind me of the glossiness of Vancouver’s Yaletown district, whilst some buildings need tearing down. It’s quite the spectacle. Unfortunately, most things are not quite finished yet, and especially the infrastructure needs to actually work.
One of the problems is the sheer quantity of traffic. The Lebanese love their cars. It’s ridiculous how many there are. So I have devised a (slightly tongue-in-cheek) plan of revolutionising the whole of Beirut.
Something that would go some way to solving the issue would be to sort out the horrendously underdeveloped public transit system. I’m told that a few years ago there was a bus system, but it was scrapped. The “bus graveyards” I’ve seen in Beirut back up this theory, and whilst taxis make up a huge proportion of the street population (private or shared, you choose) the remaining private bus system leaves a lot to be desired. What buses there are remain cheap, but their coverage of the city is thin at best, and routes, well, barely exist. Bus drivers seem to have a start and an end point, and anywhere in between is, in my experience, fairly general. It can be quite infuriating, and not ideal when you want to stop along the so-called route and the driver decides to take a huge detour because he can’t be bothered to wait in a line. And this is why taxis are so popular. You can go where you need – and for a reasonable fee if you share – but if there were more buses, and better routes, more people would take them.
It’s a catch 22 situation. Because of the traffic, people don’t want to drive. They take taxis. After all, taxis carry less people – or no people aside from yourself – and they can at least try to weave their way through the streets to find a route that flows, rather than roughly keeping to a route, and they can drop you off at your front door. But there’s tons of them, as well as tons of private cars, so generally everyone gets stuck, regardless of what they’re travelling in. Lower the amount of taxis, add some decent bus routes, that’ll be the problem soothed somewhat.
Another issue is the complete free-for-all that is Lebanese driving. There’s basically no road laws here. I’ve seen double-parking, but I’d never seen triple-parking until I came to Lebanon. It totally screws with traffic. Most cars don’t even have insurance. The amount of vehicles with multiple accident scars, or entire front ends, rear ends and more missing is quite astonishing. A red light means go, right? Bumpers are for bumping too.
I really should be a city planner. It seems so obvious and easy: make insurance mandatory, make revenue from it, fine and ban the people who still don’t have insurance – yet more revenue. Fine bad drivers – more revenue. Illegal parking – more fines. With that, I’m sure the extra traffic policing will easily be paid for, along with a ton of money left over for more buses and a decent network of routes. The buses will also make more revenue, and I’m sure there’s a ton of cash left over, and the sustainable revenue will allow a metro system to eventually appear. That’ll bring yet more revenue and keep even more cars off the streets. Also, the air will be cleaner from lowered exhaust fumes, there’ll be less stressed people sitting in traffic being late for appointments (not that Lebanese people seem particularly stressed) and everyone’s lungs will be in optimum, nargile-smoking condition. As a result, nargile sales would then rocket, bringing in more money for cafe owners, who’d then be able to expand their businesses and open new branches. It’s one constant flow, you see. The economic stimulation of Beirut. All these extra transit links would bring in more tourists who like the ease of getting around, and will enjoy the new, greener, Lebanon. They’ll be happier, and everyone knows that happier people spend more. Bonus.
And whilst we’re on the subject, why not build a few bike lanes which will now be more realistic due to the lessened traffic situation. The more cyclists would be hungry after their cycling. Sales of shawarma, falafel, and juice to wash it all down would again be improved. Calories would be burned, people would become more attractive as a result. Another bonus.
See, I’m a genius. Beirut’s transportation issues are now solved, the environment is cleaner, and the people more healthy. The whole countries revenue will have been improved, tourism boosted, and the standard of Lebanese driving changed forever. Those businesses expanding from the improves revenue will be able to employ the former taxi drivers, who’ll also have the option of working on the new bus or metro systems. Or anything else for that matter. I’m not too bothered about putting taxi drivers out of work. I’m not a fan of walking around like a human ATM because I’m foreign, and having to deal with rip-off merchants trying to charge me at least double price because I’m foreign. It’s not happening. (At this point, I’d like to apologise to all the honest taxi drivers out there – unfortunately you’re all tarred with the same brush here, but you have to have some sort of defense system against the assholes).
And, with their new jobs taking up less time due to less traffic, they’ll be able to relax more, and restore their old battered 1970s Mercedes taxis, and then sell them on for existing taxi firms, who want to cater to tourists who enjoy riding in reasonably priced (hopefully) style whilst on vacation.
So that’s Beirut sorted. The extra stimulation from all this economic growth can help develop other parts of the country. It basically is the best plan ever, and with Lebanon’s excellent climate, sea mixed with snow-capped mountains, you could have another Vancouver – but with more Arabic spoken and better hommos. All I need now is to get elected to the Lebanese government.
