A special public transport service to ferry visitors to-and-from various parts of the Holy City to the Grand Mosque and the Central Area during Ramadan was launched Tuesday. The service is overseen by the General Administration of Traffic in the Kingdom. The authorities stopped 2,000 vehicles from entering the Central Area in one day. With the introduction of the new public transport service for all main streets leading to the Grand Mosque, there is now a smooth flow of traffic in Makkah, something not seen for years. Brigadier Sulaiman Al-Ajlan, Director-General of Traffic Administration in the Kingdom, told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the new service was needed to transport visitors and Umrah performers efficiently to the Grand Mosque, especially when there is traffic congestion caused by small vehicles being allowed to transport passengers during rush hours. “Before implementing the plan, the percentage of visitors and Umrah performers transported to-and-from the Grand Mosque in small vehicles was 80 percent but this percentage decreased to 20 percent following the launch of the new public transport service.” Umrah performers were not allowed to enter Makkah with their vehicles and were diverted to the parking areas used during previous Haj seasons, Al-Ajlan added. This was done to “reduce traffic on Makkah streets and prevent incorrect parking practices which disrupt the smooth movement of vehicles.” The new service this year will include all the central areas located between the Grand Mosque and the parking areas specified by the Traffic Department, Al
