Bublic Transbortation

Damascus is in a dire need of a metro system, or trams at a minimum. There's plenty of affordable transportation in Damascus, but unfortunately all forms add to the pollution in the city, and not to the mention the traffic mayhem everybody complains about. Every time I ride in a taxi here, I wonder how the drivers do it. It takes a special kind of person to go through the stop and go traffic on a summer day in Damascus.

I heard that there were tram lines in Damascus years ago, the tracks of which are still visible in some parts of Damascus. Tram lines don't solve the traffic issue, but they certainly curb tons of pollutants away from the already thick Damascene air. Metro lines on the other hand solve both problems. Underground is the way to go, especially in a densely populated city like Damascus.

I realize that I'm not the first to come up with the idea of a metro in Damascus, in fact I heard that there are some plans for a metro system here, although I'm not sure about the construction status. Constructing a metro in a busy city like Damascus is certainly a huge engineering feat, requiring tons of man power, planning, and probably over 20 years of construction. But it's worth it. Cities like London, New York, and Berlin had metros as early as 1905, I think it's about time we catch up. While in the underground in Berlin, I couldn't help but notice pictures at every station showing the evolution of the metro system at that specific station. The first pictures in the stations mostly dated circa 1900.

Other than cutting down on pollution and traffic jams, a metro system makes it easier to find a predictable form of transportation from A to B. While waiting for a taxi or a minibus you're at the mercy of the driver, time of day, and luck. With a metro system the metro would come at regular intervals of time. No longer will a person need to stand in the searing hear waiting for a taxi to come by. Predictability is a huge luxury.

A metro would also make it easier for tourists to navigate through Damascus. Having been to a few countries where I was completely clueless about the language, I can't imagine how I would have seen the city without the metro. I honestly don't know how a tourist can get around here without a tour guide. Minibuses have signs in Arabic, most taxi drivers don't speak a hint of English, and even the new city buses have the destinations written in Arabic. At least with a metro all you need is a map, and you know exactly where you are.

Having said all that, I don't see Damascus getting a metro any time soon. Maybe the concept of a metro is too foreign. Or maybe the real problem is what to name such a system in Arabic. Would it be called "Ta7t il Ard," or would the word "metro" get bastardized like every other word here and get turned in "mekro"? For all we know the name is all that's keeping us from getting a mekro…metro system.