AMMAN — The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the first phase of a nationwide school transport project in partnership with the private sector, marking the Kingdom’s first fully integrated free transport system for public school students.

 

Announced in a Cabinet session chaired by Prime Minister Jafar Hassan, the initiative aims to ease transport challenges and improve access to education by providing free school travel, with students bearing no costs.

 

The first phase will cover 60 schools in the southern Badia, spanning Karak, Tafileh, Ma’an and Aqaba, serving nearly 8,000 students, and will be implemented over two years starting with the 2026 school year in August, deploying 120 modern buses equipped with cameras, tracking systems and a mobile app that allows parents to monitor the journeys of the students.

 

The project will also create 220 jobs for drivers, technicians and maintenance staff, who will receive specialised training, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

 

The agreement for the first phase of the project is set to be signed in the second half of April at a cost of around JD1.32 million, funded by the Treasury, while a coalition of Singaporean, Chinese and local firms will supply the buses and oversee implementation, drawing on experience from similar projects in Qatar, Oman and other countries.

 

The government plans gradual expansion to include all governorates, particularly central and northern Badia regions, as part of broader efforts to modernise transport systems alongside the Bus Rapid Transit network.

 

A second phase, scheduled for mid-June, will add seven inter-governorate routes linking Amman with other governorates through 180 smart buses, with a capacity of 13,500 passengers daily.

 

Recent BRT expansions within Amman and to Madaba, Al Balqa Applied University and Zarqa have already increased usage to more than 64 million since 2021, including 24 million last year, Petra added.