City Official Says 67% Of Tehran Buses Should Be Replaced

Sixty seven percent of the buses in Iran’s capital city, Tehran, are fatigued and beyond their "useful life", a City Council member reported on Friday, September 15.

Furthermore, Afshin Habibzadeh noted on his Twitter account that 17% of Tehran buses are seriously debilitated.

Habibzadeh’s comments have coincided with the first days of Mohammad Ali Najafi’s tenure as the new Mayor of Tehran.

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On April 26, the CEO of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, TSBC, had also indicated that half of the Capital buses are old and worn out.

In an interview with Mehr News Agency, MNA, Payman Sanandaji had also insisted, “These fatigued rickety buses are eyesores and the main source of air and noise pollution. Our fleet needs urgent renewal”.

According to Sanandaji, “Based on a government resolution endorsed in 2011, the useful life of a bus is limited to eight years. Therefore, half of the buses of Tehran and suburbs Bus Company, or more than 3,000 buses in the city are already depreciated”.

Tehran currently needs 8,253 buses, said the TSBC’s CEO, adding, “At the end of the five-year development plan, i.e. 2018, we are going to need nearly 9,530 buses [to provide satisfactory service]”.

On the basis of the Comprehensive Transportation Plan, Tehran needs 11,000 buses to successfully keep its 29% share in the capital’s commuting networks.

In 2006, the cabinet endorsed a resolution that commits the central government to renovate or buy 82.5% buses needed, while the municipalities’ share is expected to cover the rest.

However, Sanandaji laments, “It is almost seven years that we have not received even a single bus from the government. Therefore, renewing our fleet has been limited to the credits provided by the municipalities”.

Last year, there were criticisms in the press that consecutive “governments” have not honored their “legal commitments” to refurbish the urban transport system, including buses and, indeed, they are responsible for depreciation of the whole urban transport networks.