TransitLab Aims To Transform Public Transport in Baghdad

In the 1950s, Baghdad had double-decker buses, or as its residents called them, “Al-Maslaha” or “Al-Amanat,” in reference to the Baghdad Municipality. Public transport in Baghdad resembled the streets of the British capital, London. The first fleet of buses were imported by the General Public Transport Authority in 1956, which contracted the British company AEC for 100 buses. These buses graced the streets of Baghdad, making it the first capital in the SWANA region to have such an intricate public transport system at the time.

The buses had plates with numbers indicating their routes and the names of the stops listed. Citizens of Baghdad still remember each number and the areas they indicated; for example, number four was for the route “Midan Square-Rasheed St.-The White Palace.” This web of routes covered most areas of Baghdad and was reliable for citizens, with fixed arrival and departure schedules from the early morning hours. Some of the buses even advertised popular companies at the time, and the public transport employees—drivers, conductors, and inspectors—were dressed in formal uniforms and efficiently managed the cheap ticketing system.

In the 1970s, another brand of double-decker buses were imported from the British company Leyland and the German company M.A.N, each carrying around 80 passengers. Unlike the KIA or Coasters of today, which fit only 12 passengers, these buses offered a much larger capacity.

During the 1990s, due to the economic sanctions imposed by the US on Iraq, the buses nearly vanished because of the lack of spare parts. Fast forward to today, the available transport vehicles include KIAs, Coasters, Tuk-tuks, and Taxis. Most of these are privately owned, leading to a disorganised system suffering numerous issues.

Faisal is a civil engineer with two master’s degrees in GIS and environment. He has teamed up with data scientists to change the reality of public transport in Iraq and restore its past glory through their initiative, TransitLab. Operating from The Station in Baghdad, the team has taken inspiration from successful stories in cities facing similar challenges, like Cairo, and is working towards a smarter and more accessible public transport system for Baghdad.

The Problem

Baghdad’s public transport system is more accurately termed a “Paratransit” system, which combines both public and private means of transportation. The public sector includes buses operated by the Public Company for Transporting Travelers and Delegations, while the private sector consists of KIAs and Coasters registered by the Directorate of Private Transport.

Currently, the private sector is dominating the scene, leading to a disorganized and unreliable transport system. This dominance results in inefficient transport routes with  unreliable schedules. Passengers rely on social customs to know the timings of each bus and to predict where they will stop due to lack of official bus stops.

Much of the challenges in Baghdad’s current transport system is a consequence of insufficient training and a mismatch between academic knowledge and practical implementation from governmental departments.

“Governmental bodies are far behind in utilising modern GIS and data collection technologies,” Faisal said, “due to lack of training and having employees working in a practice that is different from their academic background.” 

The disorganised service, inefficient transport routes, and unreliable availability have affected accessibility to jobs and essential services. With no clear scheduling, passengers often wait until the bus is full to move, which can take a long time.

Moreover, some transport services often cease in the evening (sometimes as early as 5 pm), leaving many with limited affordable options for getting around.

The Initiative

TransitLab aims to address these issues by collecting and making public transport data accessible through an app. Currently under development, the app will help both locals and foreigners navigate Baghdad’s transport system. 

Once regularly used by the public, the TransitLab app can be a tool to find solutions for many issues such as determining areas best utilised for bus stops and the possibility of investing in those bus stops for advertisements and providing better service to eventually increase public transport turnout.

TransitLab began gathering data on bus routes, frequencies, and passenger usage through a network of volunteers equipped with GPS tracking tools on their phones. 

With over 300 volunteers riding public transport, recording routes, stops, and passenger numbers, this data is inserted into a GIS system for analysis.

“We aim to obtain three types of data,” Faisal explained. “The first is collecting the lanes from start to end and the streets they pass by, data on frequency, how often is this lane available and at what time, and lastly, data on operating times from morning to midnight. For example, the Mansour lanes are active until late hours of the night.”

Another method for data collection is the Telegram bot designed by TransitLab’s data scientist Omar Al-Qaisi. The bot collects data from volunteers on their daily commutes which involve the type of vehicle they took, amount paid, condition of the car and more. You can find the bot here. 

They also launched a public survey to gather data on how often people use public transport. The survey garnered over  2,000 participants from various backgrounds, genders, and socioeconomic statuses, 70% of which use public transport regularly and 50% of them were students.

It provided great insights on the status quo of transport in Baghdad and how to address it. “Some of the questions were customised,” Faisal noted. “For example, a question on harassment appeared only for women.” 

Some of the solutions suggested by the participants included installing cameras inside the bus, changing the design of the vehicle to better accommodate passengers’ comfort, increasing roof space, providing air conditioning, and addressing the lack of adherence to time by the drivers.

The Insights

When asked “Do you use public transport in Baghdad?” 57% of the participants answered yes while the remaining split between answering that they ‘used to but not anymore’ or they generally don’t use the service.

For those who use public transport, 40% answered they use it every day, 17% answered rarely, 14% use it once a week, while only 7% stated they use it once a month.

Those who don’t use public transport were provided with a list of reasons as to why. The most common reason was the poor condition of the vehicle, followed by the lack of definite bus stops, owning a personal vehicle, the service being too time-consuming, the bad attitude of the driver, lack of safety, and the service simply being unavailable to them.

According to 32% of survey takers, it takes an average of 5-10 minutes for passengers in Baghdad to get to the nearest bus stop, while 26% answered that it takes them less than five minutes. Finally, regarding the type of vehicle most frequently used by passengers in their daily commute, the Kia won with 61%, followed by the Coaster at 27%, and the bus being the least used with 8%. 

Around 7% voted for other public transport methods, which may include the auto rickshaw “Tuk-Tuk” and the slightly larger “Satota.”

The Challenges and Future Impact

Despite significant progress in a short amount of time، TransitLab faces challenges in data collection from governmental bodies that either do not gather the necessary data or refuse to share it. Additionally, there are no clear standards for data collection, and misunderstandings about GIS and its procedures persist.

TransitLab’s long-term goal is to integrate Baghdad’s transport routes and lanes into Google Maps by 2025, providing a comprehensive and reliable source of information for public transport users. This data will help identify optimal locations for bus stops, cover original destination areas, and overall service improvements. 

Moreover, TransitLab aims to engage service providers and improve transport policies by fostering cooperation between government bodies, investors, and drivers to encourage policy-making that satisfies all parties involved.

“Most of these transport vehicles are owned by investors, not by the drivers themselves,” Faisal said. “We can conduct a union for them to ensure a quality of the service, improvement of policies, and ensuring all parties are content.”

Some of the policies suggested by the initiative include improving transport between Baghdad and other cities, activating electronic payment, establishing a ticketing system, improving the design of the vehicles, having official bus stops, and using them as an investment opportunity for marketing and advertising, and advertising on the vehicles themselves.

Sustainability and Growth

The app, which is expected to launch by the end of 2024, aims to achieve sustainability through advertisements, governmental support, and selling data to investors to motivate them to develop the Paratransit sector through the concept of digital bus stops.

A prototype for Android is set to be showcased at the Baghdad Digital Transformation Conference in July 2024. By involving users in data collection and offering job opportunities for GIS specialists, TransitLab envisions a sustainable and collaborative approach to enhancing Iraq’s public transport system.

TransitLab has the potential to revive and modernise Iraq’s once intricate transport system, through the efforts of volunteers from generations that never had the chance to experience such a system.