Mass Transit on Track in Tehran

Over the past 30 years, the overgrown Iranian capital has arrived at unhealthy levels of air pollution and traffic congestion, but with the installation of a metro, BRT system, and bike rental program seems to be heading in a new direction.

December 2, 2010, 8am PST | Tim Halbur

TheCityFix takes a look at the megacity of nearly 14 million people and how the mobility situation has changed over the past several decades.

"The greatest achievement of the city government over the past two decades has probably been the construction of the Tehran Metro, the first such system in this country of 70 million people. Today, the Tehran Metro boasts ridership of about 4 million people. In addition, a parallel system of bus rapid transit (BRT) lanes has been developed across the capital and is rapidly expanding as city officials race to fulfill a program to have total public transit miles exceed 400 kilometers by 2020.

Meanwhile, this last September the Tehran municipality government rolled out a program for bike rental. The program, currently in a testing stage, is expected to expand in the coming years, and one hopes it will be but the first in the implementation of progressive planning techniques in the city.

Tehran continues to be the largest and densest concentration of people within Iran, and as such, remains a laboratory for urban ideas for the entire country."

Thanks to Garrett Bradford

Full Story:

Urban Planners Playing Catch-Up in Smoggy Tehran

Published on Monday, November 29, 2010 in TheCityFix