Kuwait Commute is an initiative that is set on the goal of bringing awareness to the public transportation system, and overall unpleasant, traffic situation in Kuwait. Jassim Al-Awadhi, the founder of this initiative, who’s also purely raising awareness voluntarily, is starting a conversation about sustainability, and the impact Kuwait’s transport system has on the surrounding environment. So, for bazaar tries, we decided to hop onto a bus ride with Kuwait Commute, and take this conversation further.
We got on bus 15, which stops right next to our office in Salmiya on Salem Al Mubarak Street, with Jassim and Faris Alamer, who is also part of Kuwait Commute, and holds a degree in Transport Planning & Engineering. This bus was taking us from Salmiya all the way to the city, and within this ride, we’ve learned plenty of information regarding the transportation system in Kuwait.
Why buses in particular? As Jassim himself says, “The bus is the main backbone of any public transportation system in the world, and for people to use them, it has to service them. Transportation is part of people’s livelihood, and they have to take it seriously, with a guarantee that it will function.” That’s where it all starts, the operational system in Kuwait is currently chaotic, but fixable. Kuwait Commute tells us that there’s a growing intent amongst transportation companies to improve their services.
Most of us don’t really consider buses as a means of transportation, due to other factors allowing us to commute faster, and easily. We are living in the age of speed, where whichever is faster means better. But, have you ever considered how much time and money a person could save while they are on a bus? Imagine yourself stuck in Kuwait’s excruciating traffic while driving, you can’t simply pull up your laptop and start working, but on a bus, you can do so much in just one ride.
Public transportation is mainly overlooked due to the concept of convenience. When in fact, it will not only save us from traffic, but it will pave the way to better and safer streets. Kuwait Commute runs on four values, safety, convenience, being environmentally friendly, and inclusive. “These four values are at the core of our project. We aim to have a sustainable model, because the current transportation model and private transport is not sustainable. There’s a 5% increase in cars, and 2% increase of roads, and this will affect our future and sustainability,” Jassim says.
The first step for Kuwait Commute is to raise awareness. There are so many problems regarding transport in Kuwait that are still unsolved. Including, buses not turning up at certain stops, the inconsistency of bus routes, the competition between transport companies, and the whole system on which buses go by needs to be regulated and revamped completely.
Faris Alamer emphasizes the importance of transportation and Kuwait Commute, and he tells us, “When it comes to transportation, it’s everybody’s business, everybody in our community, everyone should be involved. Nobody [should be] left behind, and no group of people should be ignored. This is what we’re trying to do, bring transportation to everyone.” The message is clear, raising awareness on this underlooked issue is a must. Public transportation in this community should be the same as taking the bus when we’re traveling abroad, so let’s make it happen!
For more information, follow @kuwaitcommute on Instagram. Plus, take a bus ride and use the hashtags #MyCommute and #WhereTheBusAt to document your trip, and raise awareness.
