Amman-Wadi Rum bus service hoped to end travellers’ woes

AMMAN — The Jordan Express Tourist Transport (JETT) on Tuesday said that it would start scheduled bus services between Amman and Wadi Rum twice a week.

Malek Haddad, JETT’s general manager, told The Jordan Times on Tuesday that the company, in cooperation with the USAID, will begin operating two regular trips a week from Amman to Wadi Rum, 300km south of Amman, in the coming two weeks.

He said that the fare is expected to be around JD10-12.

The company will also operate daily trips to other major sites including the Dead Sea, Jerash, Pella and Um Qeis, according to Haddad, who added that there will be a shuttle bus service from the Baptism Site to the Dead Sea.

Haddad said that the company has been operating a daily trip from Amman to Petra for around 10 years.

Individual Jordanian and foreign tourists have been demanding better transportation to Wadi Rum, the Dead Sea and other tourist sites.

Praising the new services, Rana Naber, a tourism and environment activist, said that before this announcement Jordanians and expatriates used to have two choices to get to Wadi Rum. 

The first option is renting a vehicle, which might be expensive for some, while the second choice is resorting to public transportation, which does not provide direct trips to Wadi Rum, she explained.  

Going from Amman to Aqaba, 330km south of Amman, is much easier, safer and cheaper as there is time-scheduled trips, said Naber, adding that from Amman to Aqaba it costs JD8.5 per person, while it would cost JD100 to get a vehicle with a driver or drive a rent car which cost around JD20-50 per day excluding fuel. 

A tourist from Canada, who preferred to remain unnamed, said that she had to rent a car and drive 300km to Wadi Rum because there was no direct public transportation to the site, which cost around JD100.  

For Aqaba-Wadi Rum-Petra, called the “golden triangle”, the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) said it is working on providing better transportation between the three major destinations.

“This year will see time-scheduled trips from Aqaba to Wadi Rum and Petra and back,” Sharhabeel Madi, a commissioner at ASEZA told The Jordan Times on Tuesday.

The Land Transport Regulatory Commission (LTRC) said that it is keen on cooperating with any investor to operate trips to these destinations.

“However, economic feasibility, as there isn’t enough commuters, has not encouraged small investors to operate trips”, LTRC Media and Communications Manager Ablah Wishah said.