Every year, with the start of the academic year, streets in the capital city witness an additional traffic load of at least 25%. Such an increase in some cases would cause stoppage in movement on key routes. This year, on the first day of the autumn, citizens of Tehran experienced a better condition. Tehran traffic on the first day of the fall was smooth on some streets and heavy but moving on others.

According to Tehran SAMA, Jaafar Hashemi Tashakori, Transportation and Traffic Deputy of Tehran Municipality, said: “With regard to the activities that have been conducted to mobilize public transportation, safety of passages network and equipment of urban routes with traffic facilities, traffic was smooth on the first day of autumn. Smoothing the traffic through removing traffic barricades, immunizing traffic particularly in passages leading up to educational centers and around schools and making traffic smart have been the three specific measures of the urban management for the new academic year.”

Tashakori Hashemi added that for the first time the share of public transportation of the total daily trips in Tehran increased by 60%. “With addition of 90 new metro wagons to the rail system of transportation, the capacity of Tehran Metro by reducing the lap between train departures has currently increased by three million passengers per day. Meanwhile, an integrated bus system has been implemented in three districts of Tehran. Moreover, Line 5 of BRT bus in Resalat location has taken up an outstanding share of transporting citizens in eastern part of Tehran. However, adding up of 100 new BRT buses has increased capacity of the bus fleet.”

According to the report, in order to welcome the new season, 16,300 buses have been fully checked and 50 two-cabin buses have officially started operation in BRT lines. Also, in an effort to encourage use of public transportation the use of metro and buses in the first week of the current month would be free of charge for school and university students.