Private sector to
operate public buses

Tender to select company is being readied

The Council of Ministers will prepare the terms of reference for a tender to select a private sector company to operate and provide maintenance for 95 public transport buses. The fleet includes 50 buses donated by France.

Under this public-private partnership, the government will have a supervisory role, said caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh.

The Railway and Public Transport Authority (RPTA) has started this week operating ten buses in some lines in Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon. The bus fare is set at LL20,000.

RPTA, which had more than 2,800 employees, has just 28 drivers who have accepted to operate the buses although their monthly salary doesn’t exceed LL2.4 million, Hamieh said. The costs of the buses’ maintenance, registration, and insurance as well as the costs needed to operate them were donated and therefore the State is required to ensure the continuity of this project in 2023, the minister said. He said that the ministry doesn’t have the resources to operate the buses and the National Social Security Fund is unable to provide support to the bus drivers to get medical care.