Damascus-Sana
The legalization of the intelligent transportation service for passengers puts an end to random transportation via private cars within and between cities and governorates and opens a new field for organized job opportunities for those interested in companies and individuals, while ensuring a safe service that allows multiple options for passengers.
And Law No. 16 of 2021 was issued to allow licensed companies and small and medium-sized tourist vehicles, micro-buses that do not have more than ten passengers and are registered in the category of passenger transport according to the electronic application system.
The electronic application, according to the Director of Road Transport at the Ministry of Transport, Mahmoud Asaad, is a program that works on the Internet via smart phones and computer devices and performs specific tasks related to the transportation of passengers, indicating that the ministry’s mission is to receive licensing requests from companies that want to benefit from the service after the approval of the telecommunications regulatory authority. .
In a statement to SANA, Asaad explained that private companies licensed according to the law create these applications that allow private car owners to subscribe to the application and provide transportation services within cities and between other cities, indicating that it limits the phenomenon of random transport within and between cities and governorates and contributes to addressing traffic congestion.
Asaad stated that the service is permitted for tourist cars and private microbuses that do not have more than 10 passengers, and public cars are not entitled to participate in it.
Regarding the benefits provided by the application, Asaad explained that it provides additional mechanisms with transportation service and additional legal income for vehicle owners without any difference in the cost of the trip that is previously determined through the application and new job opportunities. It also provides a state of safety for the citizen by specifying information about the mechanism and the driver.
For his part, Director of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Engineer Manhal Junaidi, explained that the authority’s responsibility is the safety of the smart application programmatically and its mechanism of work, pointing to the formation of a committee within the authority to follow up and study the issue from all sides, explaining that the license is currently ready and is being audited in its final stages and soon licenses for applications will be issued to any company. Check the conditions set by the authority.
Junaidi indicated that the application provides the user with all information about the companies ’cars, such as their number, color, type, distance traveled, arrival time, and the amount to be paid, which gives him freedom of choice and achieves a competitive environment between companies to provide the service and the most appropriate price to citizens.
Nael Mallah, owner of a private transport company, pointed out the importance of this service in terms of providing a job offer for young people and increasing their income in addition to reducing traffic congestion and fuel consumption, especially as it will be a safe means of transportation, which encourages a large segment of citizens to use it.
Bushra Barhoum
