In terms of traffic commute time index, Tehran ranks among the 10 worst ranked cities in 2017 which is due to improper development of the transportation network. In its latest rankings, the international data analysis agency “Numbeo” has ranked Iran as worst among 58 countries in terms of “time spent during commute”. Based on this study, the average urban travel time in Iran is 50 minutes and 17 seconds. In the capital, Tehran, this average time is 55 minutes and 7 seconds. Citizens in the best ranked countries in the traffic commute time index spend an average of 20 minutes for their commute. In this study, Basel in Switzerland achieved the best ranking.
Not matching fuel prices with inflation alongside hidden subsidies lead to low fuel prices in Iran. This in turn encourages people to use private cars and increases the number of unnecessary inner city trips. In Iran gas prices are less than 0.3 USD per liter, much below its production price at 0.7 USD per liter. Tehran Urban Planning and Research Center shows that in the past nine decades, fuel consumption has doubled every 10 years. In other countries, on average, fuel consumption is doubled every 50 years.
Rapid development of the public transportation network is another necessity for improving the traffic in Tehran. Tehran’s new management team plans to increase the real share of public transportation for inner city trips from 50% to 70%. The shares for the subway system are currently 15% which should increase to 25%.
