The Development of the Public Transport Sector in Palestine: Challenges and Ways of Development

This study falls within the research priorities of MAS, focusing on public institutions in Palestine, in continuation to a series of sectoral studies undertaken by MAS. This study focuses on methods to develop the public transportation sector in Palestine, following a detailed study conducted in 2021 by MAS on the advancement of the goods transport sector in Palestine. It evaluates the current reality of the passenger transport sector
in Palestine from an organizational and economic aspect. It presents a vision and a set of perspectives on the mechanisms for improving public transport services in response to the growing demand for this service. The idea is to arrive at a modern and effective passenger transport sector that contributes to economic and social development, especially in light of the great challenges that Palestinian society faces: continued occupation and the financial and economic crises that it creates. 

The study shows the existence of numerous regulatory-legal gaps governing the public transport sector and an overall weakness in law enforcement by the authorities. The current reality of unionized workers in the public transport sector further hinders any attempt to regulate it or to set price ceilings for each journey. The study highlights three future scenarios for managing the public transport sector. The first scenario,  representing a continuation of the current reality, is the most likely, in light of the government’s ongoing financial crisis and the scarcity of international funding for infrastructure projects. The second scenario requires the
government to contribute to developing the bus sector specifically, by merging companies across three concession areas. The third scenario assumes direct government intervention through the formation of a  government public transport company. This is the least preferred scenario by government agencies, in light of the growing budget deficit and the large financial burdens that the government will have to incur. That said, it contributes significantly to reducing fragmentation in the bus transport sector, reducing the economic burden on citizens.

I would like to thank the MAS research team for preparing this study, led by Dr. Rabeh Morrar, along with the contributions of Assistant Researchers Ms. Raheeq Hourani and Mr. Ahmed Alawneh. MAS also thanks the Ministry of Transport and Communications for its excellent cooperation in providing us with the necessary data and information. MAS also extends its gratitude to all the institutions that allocated time to interviews as part of this study. Finally, MAS thanks the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development for funding this study, and for their continued support of MAS in our efforts to promote and develop the Palestinian economy.