The next time I took the bus was in Beirut. My first bus experience was in the back of my mind, but I brushed it off because I was in a more popular area in Lebanon. I thought that would mean more comfort and more accessibility. I was waiting in Hamra alongside an old man, and when the bus arrived, I watched him struggle to get on. A lengthy line of cars was starting to form behind the bus, all the people in them furiously pressing their horns. The situation made me angrier than it should have. It made me think of all the marginalized groups in Lebanon that struggle to make use of the transportation system in Lebanon. As a civil engineering student, I was never taught about the struggles of these groups. I had to witness them myself to learn of their existence, which means countless Lebanese citizens are ignorant of these problems as well. Privileged people who own a car, me included, tend to forget that informal buses can sometimes be the only accessible means of transportation for Lebanese citizens.
There are three types of informal public transportation in Lebanon: buses, vans, and “services.” Even though the transportation system is not directly governmental, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport should still approve the vehicles. However, in Tripoli, taxis can operate without this license, which can cause less accountability and less safety for the citizen. This is why it is hard to generalize when it comes to transportation in Lebanon; every city can be different. Still, some struggles are common according to specific criteria.
I. Basis of Struggle:
a) Gender:
After asking a few of my male friends, I found out that they all felt safe on a public bus. Here, I need to make a distinction that my friend Karim pointed out. He explained to me how his experience changes according to the type of transportation. He feels that buses are safer than vans or taxis because of the vast number of people on them and the clear passage that buses take. Whereas vans can be unsafe for all genders because their pathway can be unpredictable.
On the other hand, women answered that they would rather walk to their destination rather than use informal transportation at all. Additionally, bus stops in Lebanon are non-existent. Thus, women are supposed to stand waiting on the poorly lit roads in hopes that the bus arrives quickly. Even after it arrives, women move into another space with no security or surveillance, only now there is also the problem of overcrowding. Men, like Karim, usually assume overcrowding results in safety, but that is not the case. People on buses would rarely see or help a girl in an uncomfortable situation.
b) Disability:
When addressing the problem that physically disabled people face, one can observe that the lack of bus stops also arises in this case. It is not accessible for disabled individuals to stand stranded on the roads waiting. Not to mention that it is almost impossible for a person in a wheelchair to get on a bus. The only feasible way is for other people to help, and it would still take a long time. Buses are already known to be extremely slow because of the constant stops, so giving more time for disabled people to get in would be an unwelcome solution. Instead, a more time-efficient solution should be implemented.
c) Nationality:
A considerable number of citizens who cannot afford private cars are immigrants, and they are the least protected legally. Migrant women feel unsafe even more than Lebanese women because Lebanon’s sexual harassment law that was issued in 2020 excludes them. According to a study done by UN Women (2022), Syrian and Palestinian women were more likely to be harassed than Lebanese women.
Men are not safe either. The Lebanese Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (LIFE) has documented that Syrian refugees get pulled out of buses and vans to get assaulted. These incidents mostly occur in Bekaa and Burj Hammoud but are widespread across all Lebanon.
II. Solutions:
To make transportation in Lebanon more inclusive, civil engineers should be well-educated on the topic because they can make the biggest changes. To begin with, bus stops should be well lit and secure. Security guards and surveillance cameras should be present at bus stops and on buses. Another way to help women feel comfortable is changing a quarter of the total number of buses into women only spaces where women do not have to worry about assault from the opposite gender. Also, ramps should be installed at bus stops. Buses would park in a way such that the ramp leads to the entrance of the bus directly. This would be the least costly and time-consuming solution to allow disabled individuals to get on the bus.
As for refugees and immigrants, the sexual assault law should be modified to include them and the already existing laws should be implemented harshly to prevent their assault.
It is important to note that the above solutions are not enough. A complete redesign of public transportation should take place to allow buses to fit wheelchairs. However, I did not mention the far-fetched solutions because it is already hard enough to implement the simpler ones.
References:
Lebanon: Rising violence targets Syrian refugees. Human Rights Watch. (2020, October 28). https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/09/30/lebanon-rising-violence-targets-syrian-refugees
Fuglei, C. (2021, August). Women’s experiences of harassment in taxis: A case study of Tripoli, Lebanon. Lebanon. https://lebanon.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2022/03/womens-experiences-of-harassment-in-taxis-a-case-study-of-tripoli-lebanon