Amman's congestion problem runs deeper than roads
last updated: 2 h ago
A journey across Amman that once took ten or fifteen minutes now routinely stretches to an hour - and sometimes ninety minutes - according to urban planning experts. The capital is straining under a vehicle fleet exceeding 1.5 million, compounded by a daily influx from the provinces and a seasonal surge of expatriate and visitor traffic in summer and during public holidays.اضافة اعلان
Official figures and responses paint the congestion crisis as the product of overlapping pressures: population growth, urban sprawl, the concentration of economic activity, a public transport network that has lagged behind the city's physical expansion, road capacity that has remained largely static across wide stretches of the city, and parking and driving behaviour inside residential streets.
While government bodies are moving to expand mass transit, improve entry corridors and intersections, and introduce intelligent traffic management, specialists say a lasting solution must begin with aligning land use with transport planning, building feeder networks that connect neighborhoods to public transport corridors, and managing private vehicle demand - not simply adding lanes or building new intersections.
Shadi Al-Rawabdeh, director of traffic operations at the Greater Amman Municipality and an engineer by training, said congestion stems from intertwined factors: population growth, urban expansion, and Amman's status as the economic, tourism and services hub of the country, drawing residents and visitors for work, education and public services alike.
Amman now holds more than 4.5 million residents and accounts for roughly 70 percent of all registered vehicles in the kingdom, Al-Rawabdeh said. The number of vehicles within the capital exceeds 1.5 million, not counting those arriving daily from the provinces or the seasonal influx of vehicles belonging to expatriates and tourists.
The Ministry of Public Works and Housing, responding to questions from Al Ghad through its media spokesman Omar Al-Maharma, estimated that approximately 200,000 vehicles flow into the capital daily through more than five congested entry corridors during morning and evening peak hours. The ministry's response did not break that figure down by corridor or explain the methodology behind it.
Al-Maharma said the Amman–Zarqa corridor records more than 120,000 vehicles a day in both directions, the Amman–Salt corridor at Suwayleh sees around 75,000, and the Airport Road carries more than 190,000 vehicles in both directions, including traffic from Madaba, the southern governorates and the airport. The ministry estimates that Jordan's vehicle fleet grows by around 80,000 new vehicles each year, gradually intensifying pressure on the capital's main entry arteries.
Khaled Al-Momani, urban planning and development expert and chairman of the Urban Planning and Design Committee at the Jordan Engineers Association, said the number of registered vehicles in the kingdom has exceeded 2.4 million and may climb above 2.7 million in summer when expatriate and visitor vehicles are included.
Al-Momani said the roots of the problem stretch back decades to an urban planning approach that treated public transport as a deferred add-on rather than the backbone of the city. Amman expanded horizontally faster than road and transport networks could develop, and new districts grew up far from public transit corridors, turning the private car from a choice into a daily necessity for a large share of residents.
He added that the concentration of malls, towers and major commercial activity along main roads - without adequate traffic impact studies - raised demand on roads with limited capacity. The problem is not confined to large developments: a car parked outside a shop or bakery can close an entire lane and turn a street into a bottleneck, particularly where parking enforcement is absent.
Mazen Al-Nabulsi, secretary of the architectural engineering chapter at the Jordan Engineers Association and an urban design specialist, agreed with that diagnosis. He said the crisis results from the absence of continuous planning and a relative shortfall in comprehensive planning, and argued that a city's master plan should not remain fixed but should be reassessed every ten to fifteen years to cover land use, traffic movement, streets, activities and green spaces.
Al-Nabulsi identified additional causes: weak hierarchy between arterial, collector and residential roads; street designs that do not accommodate future growth; and activity densities in certain areas that already exceed their carrying capacity. He said the repeated reliance on roundabouts and traffic signals does not provide a permanent fix unless it is preceded by a thorough understanding of a street's character, its uses and the volume of traffic it carries.
Wafa'i Amseis, president of the Jordan Road Accident Prevention Association, said congestion begins when traffic volume exceeds road capacity, causing speeds to fall until traffic halts altogether. He linked the crisis to the rising number of vehicles, static road and tunnel and bridge capacity, inadequate public transport coverage in residential neighborhoods, the spread of taxis and ride-hailing vehicles circulating in search of passengers during peak hours, and parking problems outside commercial premises.
Amseis said dedicating portions of certain streets to Bus Rapid Transit lanes has added to pressure on general traffic, but stressed that the core problem is the absence of a wide public transport network that gives citizens a practical alternative to their private car.
The Greater Amman Municipality manages congestion on three levels, according to Al-Rawabdeh. The operational level involves continuous monitoring through a joint control room shared with the Traffic Directorate, oversight of intersections and signals, and measures to ease bottlenecks. The engineering level covers traffic studies, route reorganisation, conversion of some roundabouts to signal-controlled junctions, and construction of bridges and underpasses based on movement and accident data. The strategic level focuses on developing public transport, infrastructure and intelligent transport systems.
In its response to Al Ghad's questions, the municipality said smart signals adjust their timing according to traffic volumes, while the control centre monitors main corridors to cut response times. It also disclosed that a congestion prediction system is expected to be operational at the start of October. That means current management remains primarily reactive - monitoring and responding - before moving to predictive capability.
The gap between the present situation and the planned next step is significant. Amseis said artificial intelligence is currently used to detect traffic violations, not to predict congestion, while the municipality speaks of a forthcoming prediction system. Assessing that system's effectiveness will depend on the accuracy of its data, how far in advance it can anticipate congestion, and whether alerts can translate into adjusted signal timing, traffic diversion or incident management.
The Ministry of Public Works said it does not have a system for monitoring or predicting congestion and approaches flows on arterial entry roads from the perspective of planning network capacity and vehicle throughput. The ministry coordinates with the Greater Amman Municipality, the Traffic Directorate, the External Patrols Directorate and the Ministry of Transport on incidents, closures, diversions, obstacle clearance and the dissemination of warnings.
The Ministry of Public Works said it has completed the Amman–Zarqa corridor project from the Al-Mahatta complex to the new Zarqa complex, spanning 20 kilometres at an estimated cost of 160 million dinars. Works included widening the road to between three and five lanes, building eleven intersections in the form of bridges and underpasses, four intermediate stations and one main station, and separating the Bus Rapid Transit lane from general vehicle traffic.
Intersection improvements linked to the project covered Al-Mahatta, Al-Maslakh, Ain Ghazal, Marka, Al-Hizam, Al-Zeitouneh and the Military College, through to the main Zarqa intersection, with the aim of removing bottlenecks and raising capacity on the capital's busiest entry corridor.
The ministry also carried out improvements on Airport Road at an estimated cost of 350,000 dinars, including separating the service road, repairing damaged sections, rehabilitating the central median and improving entrances and traffic directions. Improvements to the Amman–Salt entry cost an estimated 1.52 million dinars and included median reorganisation, road widening, a service road, road surface maintenance and construction of a pedestrian bridge. Works on the eastern Amman–Madaba entry cost an estimated 4.65 million dinars, covering improved access and egress, road maintenance, median reorganisation and enhanced safety features.
Alongside completed projects, the Ministry of Public Works and the Greater Amman Municipality are - according to a recently published press statement - examining three alternative alignments and five traffic packages to provide support roads for King Abdullah II Street, running from Dabouq towards Wadi Al-Seer, Al-Bayadir and Airport Road. Studies have shown that average delay on that corridor has risen from around 15 minutes to between 30 and 35 minutes. The proposals remain under review by a joint technical committee that will determine costs, financing and implementation timelines. The preliminary cost of completing the unfinished section of Beit Al-Maqdis Street was estimated at between 3.5 and 4 million dinars.
Despite the importance of these works, experts caution that expanding capacity alone is not sufficient: improving a road may absorb demand for a period, but the vehicle fleet and journey numbers continue to grow. They argue that the impact of each project should be measured after it enters service through clear indicators - journey time, average speed, queue length and accident rates - rather than by expenditure or length of road completed.
The Greater Amman Municipality places expansion of mass transit and smart traffic management at the centre of its strategy. It says Bus Rapid Transit is not a standalone solution but part of a system that includes Amman Bus services, feeder lines, interchange stops and parking management, with the aim of providing a safe and reliable alternative to the private car and cutting journey and waiting times.
Municipality data show that the Bus Rapid Transit and Amman Bus network currently extends across approximately 957 kilometres through 41 routes, served by 322 buses including 15 electric vehicles, with work under way to add 20 more. The network has recorded 109.6 million cumulative journeys since its launch through mid-2026, including 35.4 million journeys in 2025. Transfers between Amman Bus and the rapid transit service have exceeded 14 million since integrated fares were introduced in 2022 through the end of the first half of 2026.
The municipality said the next phase will focus on completing the formal operating procedures for Bus Rapid Transit through a public-private partnership, expanding the network and feeder lines, developing stations and integrated transport hubs, and raising operational efficiency.
On travel into the capital, the Ministry of Transport said that regulating public transport within the municipality's boundaries falls under the municipality's remit, while the ministry's role centres on policy and inter-city transport between Amman and the governorates. Ministry spokesman Mohammad Al-Duwairi said the first phase of the regular transport project launched with 127 buses, rising to 146, with government support of around 4.5 million dinars. The second phase targets 180 buses on new routes. The service operates on fixed schedules and frequencies with electronic payment, tracking and oversight, offering those travelling to the capital an organised alternative to the private vehicle.
Al-Nabulsi said the success of rapid transit depends on a supporting network that connects neighbourhoods to its corridors. He cited the example of residents living two or three kilometres from a station on University of Jordan Street: if they must drive to reach it, the project loses part of its capacity to reduce private journeys. That points to the need for regular feeder routes, safe pedestrian pathways and interchange car parks that allow drivers to leave their vehicles before entering congested areas.
As part of efforts to reduce private vehicle entry into Amman, the government is studying a park-and-ride scheme involving an electronic multi-storey car park with capacity for around 1,000 vehicles. The facility would serve those arriving via Jordan Street and Airport Road and connect to current and future Bus Rapid Transit lines, allowing drivers to leave their vehicles and complete their journey by public transport.
The project includes interchange parking managed by smart systems, feeder transport services, access routes and links to main transport corridors. A study will determine sites, tariffs, economic viability, traffic demand, land acquisition requirements and environmental and social impacts. The Ministries of Transport, Public Works and Housing, and Local Administration, together with the Greater Amman Municipality, the Land Transport Regulatory Commission and the Department of Lands and Survey, are all involved.
The project's significance lies in its potential to reduce vehicles entering the capital and boost public transport use, and in its alignment with an urban parking and mobility strategy. It remains at the study stage, however, and neither its cost nor its implementation date has been announced.
The cost of congestion extends well beyond lost minutes. Al-Momani said the bill includes working hours, lost productivity, family time, higher fuel consumption in a country that imports all its energy needs, and continuous exposure to vehicle emissions - a deferred public health cost. Weak public transport also effectively excludes those without cars, limiting their access to employment, education and services.
Al-Nabulsi added that recurring delays affect business performance and personal commitments, as well as the psychological wellbeing of individuals, and may dent the attractiveness of areas or economic activities that are difficult to reach.
These costs compound when peak hours extend further into the day or coincide with summer, the return of expatriates and heightened tourism activity, turning congestion from an occasional inconvenience into a daily factor that affects quality of life and the city's operational efficiency.
Experts place at the top of the solutions list the alignment of urban planning with public transport under a transit-oriented development model, concentrating residential, commercial and service density around public transport corridors while distributing economic activity across multiple poles rather than continuing to draw the majority of journeys to specific areas.
Al-Momani called for making traffic impact assessments a mandatory condition before any major project receives a licence, with approval linked to a clear transport and parking plan. He also proposed developing interchange car parks, running buses serving commercial clusters, introducing flexible working hours to reduce the simultaneous peak of employee and student journeys, and allowing ambulances and fire engines to use Bus Rapid Transit lanes when necessary.
Amseis proposed reassessing certain streets for conversion to one-way operation where studies permit, calibrating signal timing to traffic volumes, enforcing parking rules and launching carpooling initiatives with the private sector to reduce the number of single-occupant vehicles during peak hours.
Al-Nabulsi called for a comprehensive review of Amman's master plan, involving government bodies, experts and the community, integrating traffic, urban, social and behavioural dimensions. A smart city, he said, cannot be reduced to electronic signals; it requires a sustained capacity to read the needs of residents and activities, update plans and provide services close enough to reach on foot or by public transport.
Taken together, the responses indicate that addressing Amman's traffic crisis requires two parallel tracks: better management of existing movement through monitoring, prediction, adaptive signals and rapid intervention; and reducing the growth in road demand through integrated public transport, more disciplined urban planning, organized parking, flexible hours and ridesharing.
On that basis, the success of traffic policy will be measured not by the number of bridges built or buses deployed alone, but by its ability to cut journey times, raise the share of public transport, reduce private vehicle entry into the most congested areas, and publish regular data that allow outcomes to be assessed. Al-Momani said Amman's crisis is not inevitable - but it will not recede without a credible alternative to the private car, and without planning that anticipates growth rather than chases it.
This article was originally written in Arabic by Mahmoud Khader Al-Shuboul for Al- Ghad.
Official figures and responses paint the congestion crisis as the product of overlapping pressures: population growth, urban sprawl, the concentration of economic activity, a public transport network that has lagged behind the city's physical expansion, road capacity that has remained largely static across wide stretches of the city, and parking and driving behaviour inside residential streets.
While government bodies are moving to expand mass transit, improve entry corridors and intersections, and introduce intelligent traffic management, specialists say a lasting solution must begin with aligning land use with transport planning, building feeder networks that connect neighborhoods to public transport corridors, and managing private vehicle demand - not simply adding lanes or building new intersections.
Shadi Al-Rawabdeh, director of traffic operations at the Greater Amman Municipality and an engineer by training, said congestion stems from intertwined factors: population growth, urban expansion, and Amman's status as the economic, tourism and services hub of the country, drawing residents and visitors for work, education and public services alike.
Amman now holds more than 4.5 million residents and accounts for roughly 70 percent of all registered vehicles in the kingdom, Al-Rawabdeh said. The number of vehicles within the capital exceeds 1.5 million, not counting those arriving daily from the provinces or the seasonal influx of vehicles belonging to expatriates and tourists.
The Ministry of Public Works and Housing, responding to questions from Al Ghad through its media spokesman Omar Al-Maharma, estimated that approximately 200,000 vehicles flow into the capital daily through more than five congested entry corridors during morning and evening peak hours. The ministry's response did not break that figure down by corridor or explain the methodology behind it.
Al-Maharma said the Amman–Zarqa corridor records more than 120,000 vehicles a day in both directions, the Amman–Salt corridor at Suwayleh sees around 75,000, and the Airport Road carries more than 190,000 vehicles in both directions, including traffic from Madaba, the southern governorates and the airport. The ministry estimates that Jordan's vehicle fleet grows by around 80,000 new vehicles each year, gradually intensifying pressure on the capital's main entry arteries.
Khaled Al-Momani, urban planning and development expert and chairman of the Urban Planning and Design Committee at the Jordan Engineers Association, said the number of registered vehicles in the kingdom has exceeded 2.4 million and may climb above 2.7 million in summer when expatriate and visitor vehicles are included.
Al-Momani said the roots of the problem stretch back decades to an urban planning approach that treated public transport as a deferred add-on rather than the backbone of the city. Amman expanded horizontally faster than road and transport networks could develop, and new districts grew up far from public transit corridors, turning the private car from a choice into a daily necessity for a large share of residents.
He added that the concentration of malls, towers and major commercial activity along main roads - without adequate traffic impact studies - raised demand on roads with limited capacity. The problem is not confined to large developments: a car parked outside a shop or bakery can close an entire lane and turn a street into a bottleneck, particularly where parking enforcement is absent.
Mazen Al-Nabulsi, secretary of the architectural engineering chapter at the Jordan Engineers Association and an urban design specialist, agreed with that diagnosis. He said the crisis results from the absence of continuous planning and a relative shortfall in comprehensive planning, and argued that a city's master plan should not remain fixed but should be reassessed every ten to fifteen years to cover land use, traffic movement, streets, activities and green spaces.
Al-Nabulsi identified additional causes: weak hierarchy between arterial, collector and residential roads; street designs that do not accommodate future growth; and activity densities in certain areas that already exceed their carrying capacity. He said the repeated reliance on roundabouts and traffic signals does not provide a permanent fix unless it is preceded by a thorough understanding of a street's character, its uses and the volume of traffic it carries.
Wafa'i Amseis, president of the Jordan Road Accident Prevention Association, said congestion begins when traffic volume exceeds road capacity, causing speeds to fall until traffic halts altogether. He linked the crisis to the rising number of vehicles, static road and tunnel and bridge capacity, inadequate public transport coverage in residential neighborhoods, the spread of taxis and ride-hailing vehicles circulating in search of passengers during peak hours, and parking problems outside commercial premises.
Amseis said dedicating portions of certain streets to Bus Rapid Transit lanes has added to pressure on general traffic, but stressed that the core problem is the absence of a wide public transport network that gives citizens a practical alternative to their private car.
The Greater Amman Municipality manages congestion on three levels, according to Al-Rawabdeh. The operational level involves continuous monitoring through a joint control room shared with the Traffic Directorate, oversight of intersections and signals, and measures to ease bottlenecks. The engineering level covers traffic studies, route reorganisation, conversion of some roundabouts to signal-controlled junctions, and construction of bridges and underpasses based on movement and accident data. The strategic level focuses on developing public transport, infrastructure and intelligent transport systems.
In its response to Al Ghad's questions, the municipality said smart signals adjust their timing according to traffic volumes, while the control centre monitors main corridors to cut response times. It also disclosed that a congestion prediction system is expected to be operational at the start of October. That means current management remains primarily reactive - monitoring and responding - before moving to predictive capability.
The gap between the present situation and the planned next step is significant. Amseis said artificial intelligence is currently used to detect traffic violations, not to predict congestion, while the municipality speaks of a forthcoming prediction system. Assessing that system's effectiveness will depend on the accuracy of its data, how far in advance it can anticipate congestion, and whether alerts can translate into adjusted signal timing, traffic diversion or incident management.
The Ministry of Public Works said it does not have a system for monitoring or predicting congestion and approaches flows on arterial entry roads from the perspective of planning network capacity and vehicle throughput. The ministry coordinates with the Greater Amman Municipality, the Traffic Directorate, the External Patrols Directorate and the Ministry of Transport on incidents, closures, diversions, obstacle clearance and the dissemination of warnings.
The Ministry of Public Works said it has completed the Amman–Zarqa corridor project from the Al-Mahatta complex to the new Zarqa complex, spanning 20 kilometres at an estimated cost of 160 million dinars. Works included widening the road to between three and five lanes, building eleven intersections in the form of bridges and underpasses, four intermediate stations and one main station, and separating the Bus Rapid Transit lane from general vehicle traffic.
Intersection improvements linked to the project covered Al-Mahatta, Al-Maslakh, Ain Ghazal, Marka, Al-Hizam, Al-Zeitouneh and the Military College, through to the main Zarqa intersection, with the aim of removing bottlenecks and raising capacity on the capital's busiest entry corridor.
The ministry also carried out improvements on Airport Road at an estimated cost of 350,000 dinars, including separating the service road, repairing damaged sections, rehabilitating the central median and improving entrances and traffic directions. Improvements to the Amman–Salt entry cost an estimated 1.52 million dinars and included median reorganisation, road widening, a service road, road surface maintenance and construction of a pedestrian bridge. Works on the eastern Amman–Madaba entry cost an estimated 4.65 million dinars, covering improved access and egress, road maintenance, median reorganisation and enhanced safety features.
Alongside completed projects, the Ministry of Public Works and the Greater Amman Municipality are - according to a recently published press statement - examining three alternative alignments and five traffic packages to provide support roads for King Abdullah II Street, running from Dabouq towards Wadi Al-Seer, Al-Bayadir and Airport Road. Studies have shown that average delay on that corridor has risen from around 15 minutes to between 30 and 35 minutes. The proposals remain under review by a joint technical committee that will determine costs, financing and implementation timelines. The preliminary cost of completing the unfinished section of Beit Al-Maqdis Street was estimated at between 3.5 and 4 million dinars.
Despite the importance of these works, experts caution that expanding capacity alone is not sufficient: improving a road may absorb demand for a period, but the vehicle fleet and journey numbers continue to grow. They argue that the impact of each project should be measured after it enters service through clear indicators - journey time, average speed, queue length and accident rates - rather than by expenditure or length of road completed.
The Greater Amman Municipality places expansion of mass transit and smart traffic management at the centre of its strategy. It says Bus Rapid Transit is not a standalone solution but part of a system that includes Amman Bus services, feeder lines, interchange stops and parking management, with the aim of providing a safe and reliable alternative to the private car and cutting journey and waiting times.
Municipality data show that the Bus Rapid Transit and Amman Bus network currently extends across approximately 957 kilometres through 41 routes, served by 322 buses including 15 electric vehicles, with work under way to add 20 more. The network has recorded 109.6 million cumulative journeys since its launch through mid-2026, including 35.4 million journeys in 2025. Transfers between Amman Bus and the rapid transit service have exceeded 14 million since integrated fares were introduced in 2022 through the end of the first half of 2026.
The municipality said the next phase will focus on completing the formal operating procedures for Bus Rapid Transit through a public-private partnership, expanding the network and feeder lines, developing stations and integrated transport hubs, and raising operational efficiency.
On travel into the capital, the Ministry of Transport said that regulating public transport within the municipality's boundaries falls under the municipality's remit, while the ministry's role centres on policy and inter-city transport between Amman and the governorates. Ministry spokesman Mohammad Al-Duwairi said the first phase of the regular transport project launched with 127 buses, rising to 146, with government support of around 4.5 million dinars. The second phase targets 180 buses on new routes. The service operates on fixed schedules and frequencies with electronic payment, tracking and oversight, offering those travelling to the capital an organised alternative to the private vehicle.
Al-Nabulsi said the success of rapid transit depends on a supporting network that connects neighbourhoods to its corridors. He cited the example of residents living two or three kilometres from a station on University of Jordan Street: if they must drive to reach it, the project loses part of its capacity to reduce private journeys. That points to the need for regular feeder routes, safe pedestrian pathways and interchange car parks that allow drivers to leave their vehicles before entering congested areas.
As part of efforts to reduce private vehicle entry into Amman, the government is studying a park-and-ride scheme involving an electronic multi-storey car park with capacity for around 1,000 vehicles. The facility would serve those arriving via Jordan Street and Airport Road and connect to current and future Bus Rapid Transit lines, allowing drivers to leave their vehicles and complete their journey by public transport.
The project includes interchange parking managed by smart systems, feeder transport services, access routes and links to main transport corridors. A study will determine sites, tariffs, economic viability, traffic demand, land acquisition requirements and environmental and social impacts. The Ministries of Transport, Public Works and Housing, and Local Administration, together with the Greater Amman Municipality, the Land Transport Regulatory Commission and the Department of Lands and Survey, are all involved.
The project's significance lies in its potential to reduce vehicles entering the capital and boost public transport use, and in its alignment with an urban parking and mobility strategy. It remains at the study stage, however, and neither its cost nor its implementation date has been announced.
The cost of congestion extends well beyond lost minutes. Al-Momani said the bill includes working hours, lost productivity, family time, higher fuel consumption in a country that imports all its energy needs, and continuous exposure to vehicle emissions - a deferred public health cost. Weak public transport also effectively excludes those without cars, limiting their access to employment, education and services.
Al-Nabulsi added that recurring delays affect business performance and personal commitments, as well as the psychological wellbeing of individuals, and may dent the attractiveness of areas or economic activities that are difficult to reach.
These costs compound when peak hours extend further into the day or coincide with summer, the return of expatriates and heightened tourism activity, turning congestion from an occasional inconvenience into a daily factor that affects quality of life and the city's operational efficiency.
Experts place at the top of the solutions list the alignment of urban planning with public transport under a transit-oriented development model, concentrating residential, commercial and service density around public transport corridors while distributing economic activity across multiple poles rather than continuing to draw the majority of journeys to specific areas.
Al-Momani called for making traffic impact assessments a mandatory condition before any major project receives a licence, with approval linked to a clear transport and parking plan. He also proposed developing interchange car parks, running buses serving commercial clusters, introducing flexible working hours to reduce the simultaneous peak of employee and student journeys, and allowing ambulances and fire engines to use Bus Rapid Transit lanes when necessary.
Amseis proposed reassessing certain streets for conversion to one-way operation where studies permit, calibrating signal timing to traffic volumes, enforcing parking rules and launching carpooling initiatives with the private sector to reduce the number of single-occupant vehicles during peak hours.
Al-Nabulsi called for a comprehensive review of Amman's master plan, involving government bodies, experts and the community, integrating traffic, urban, social and behavioural dimensions. A smart city, he said, cannot be reduced to electronic signals; it requires a sustained capacity to read the needs of residents and activities, update plans and provide services close enough to reach on foot or by public transport.
Taken together, the responses indicate that addressing Amman's traffic crisis requires two parallel tracks: better management of existing movement through monitoring, prediction, adaptive signals and rapid intervention; and reducing the growth in road demand through integrated public transport, more disciplined urban planning, organized parking, flexible hours and ridesharing.
On that basis, the success of traffic policy will be measured not by the number of bridges built or buses deployed alone, but by its ability to cut journey times, raise the share of public transport, reduce private vehicle entry into the most congested areas, and publish regular data that allow outcomes to be assessed. Al-Momani said Amman's crisis is not inevitable - but it will not recede without a credible alternative to the private car, and without planning that anticipates growth rather than chases it.
This article was originally written in Arabic by Mahmoud Khader Al-Shuboul for Al- Ghad.