Integrated transport system needed RIYADH – Traffic police are not the only authorities responsible for road congestion in the Kingdom and an integrated transportation system is required to tackle the congestion problem, a top official has said. Major General Sulaiman Al-Ajlan, Director General of the General Administration of Traffic, said that without such a system the congestion will continue, Al-Watan reported Thursday. Other departments share the responsibility of the Traffic Administration, which functions under the ministries of Interior, Transportation, Municipal and Rural Affairs, and Economy and Planning. “The network of the cargo trains being built within the Gulf transportation system will significantly reduce the number of trucks on express roads. One trip of a cargo train will cut the need for 500 trucks on the express roads,” he said. “This will also reduce intercity traffic,” he added. He said this is part of the integrated program of the GCC Ministries of Transportation. “The Kingdom is constructing an integrated railway network which will link the Kingdom's various regions in the way that Madina, Makkah and Jeddah are to be connected. Completion of this network will significantly reduce the pressure on the highways and in return it will reduce traffic accidents and traffic congestion,” Al-Ajlan said. He revealed there are plans to completely eliminate administrative paperwork such as that for the renewal and issuance of driving licenses and transfer of car ownership. He also revealed that all transactions will be computerized in three years time. “On completion of this project the administration will get rid of all those who carry out paperwork. Last year six million travel authorization documents were issued electronically to citizens who wanted to travel abroad by car,” he said. However, Al-Ajlan denied there were plans to cut the number of traffic police personnel. “Traffic is a service sector which the public needs unlike plain clothes traffic police or Saher which are supporting services and agencies.”
