The Issue of Urban Transport Planning in Saudi Arabia: Concepts and Future Challenges

Sustainable mobility is a growing field that allows researchers to pay attention to the problem of public transit and its constraints. In spite of this, many developing countries often overlook this aspect of the question and focus on monetary issues instead. This causes an imbalance between a variety of sources of impact, such as the local economy, environmental problems, and even social interactions. The case of Riyadh, one of the essential transports and financial arteries of Saudi Arabia, was important because it showed that the city administration is yet to invest more resources in the existing Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) and improve other non-quantifiable factors. The method applied for this research was a detailed review of the current plan that was completed in an attempt to highlight the biggest weaknesses and identify the opportunities to capitalize the future local transport planning. It was proposed to implement the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) method and formulate clearer objectives regarding how metro and bus stations should be located and maintained in order to make it easier for the citizens of Riyadh to reach all necessary destinations. A renewed framework is proposed to help the city administration cope with the increasing agglomeration and unemployment rates.