Urban transportation

Iranians use ordinary transportation systems such as Bus, Metro, Taxi and Van. The municipality is responsible for means of public transportation in cities and the traffic police is responsible for their safety.

Iran’s big cities have a fully equipped transportation system. For example Tehran as a mega city uses all the systems to provide the transportation of millions of people daily, so the city municipality allocates huge amounts of money for the development of the transportation system in Tehran. Thus, the Tehran metro alone transports 2.5 million people every day. Now you can imagine that the urban transportation is an important matter in Iran’s big cities such as Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad.

In small cities transportation system is mostly limited to ordinary buses and taxis which of course are cheaper than in big cities.

Our aim is to provide some information about urban transportation systems in Iran, so we will give you detailed information about urban transportation of each city, the lines, prices, tickets and instructions how to use them in different parts of the cities.

Bus

Bus is the second most popular means of transportation in Iran. It is also the cheapest way to travel across the cities. Apart from this, buses are safer and easier to use than other vehicles and you can find public buses in each city in Iran.

During the recent years Iran’s government has been trying to renew the bus system in Iran. The sector has been privatized by several companies. Currently the governmental bus organizations are only responsible for controlling private bus companies for the quality of service, safety and for issuing their licenses.

While using buses in Iran you can pay the money to the driver when leaving the bus or you can use integrated transportation payment cards in large cities which are applicable both for buses and for the subway.

In most cities buses operate from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. The time can vary depending on the city by one hour.

Yet, using bus can be cheap but time consuming because of the many stations on the way where it has to stop. Riding in a bus during rush hour can also be uncomfortable because it is often getting overcrowded and sometimes it can be even hard to find enough room for standing.

How to Take You have to find a bus station then just wait for bus, mostly you have to pay when you are leaving bus, it can be done by cash or Public transport card.

Safety Bus is safest transport vehicle.

Time to use Based on city it can be from 5am till 11pm, in little cities its time range is shorter.

Quality of service This can be different in each city, mostly quality is good but based on city it can be uncomfortable in busy times.

Costs Bus is cheapest transport vehicle, usually it’s cheaper than 30 us cents

Problems time consuming because its big and have many stations in way,also using bus in traffic peak time can be uncomfortable because it get too busy and even sometimes finding an standing area can be difficult.

BRT(Bus Rapid Transportation System)

BRT is a type of bus transportation system but it is somehow different from the ordinary buses. It has its own separate lines, which means that traffic cannot influence it. The BRT has its own stations which are easy to reach even for people with disabilities. You can use integrated transportation payment card for BRT which you can buy near the stations.

BRT buses are modern and new. It is guaranteed that you can take the bus every five minutes during daytime. BRT works 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. During nighttime the interval between the buses might take up to 20 minutes.

Depending on the BRT line and the time of the day it may be more or less crowded. Yet in comparison with ordinary buses BRT is more comfortable and faster.

How to Take You have to reach to a BRT station , you just can pay by Public transportation card

Safety BRT is safe as ordinary bus.

Time to use BRT is working 24 hours per day and 7 days of week, but in midnight and holidays time interval between each bus is increased.

Quality of service BRT quality is good because of using new buses, but in traffic peak time when its busy can be uncomfortable

Costs Bus is cheapest transport vehicle, usually it’s cheaper than 30 us cents

Problems using BRT in traffic peak time can be uncomfortable because it get too busy and even sometimes finding an standing area can be difficult

Public Taxi

Taxis in Iran are different from those in most countries.

The first difference is that despite of having official taxi services, ordinary cars might also be used as taxis in many cities in Iran.

Official taxis are painted completely yellow or green and you can see the names of the company and the phone numbers on them. But unofficial taxis are regular cars used as taxis. The reason why many people use their own cars as taxis is that in many cities taxis are not enough for transporting people, thus they use the opportunity to earn money.

Of course it is better to use official taxis because they are safer but inside cities during day time there is not much difference between them.

The second difference is that taxis in Iran are used as private and public transportation vehicles. The private usage is like in other countries where you get in a taxi and it takes you to your destination, but its public usage is somewhat similar to buses or vans. Each taxi in Iran can pick up 4 passengers (3 in the back and one in the front), so when you shake your hand to stop a taxi it can have some passengers inside already and you have to take one free seat for yourself.

How to Take you can take a taxi by shaking your hand in street against taxis or calling taxi services

Safety Official taxis and taxi services are safe but using unofficial taxis inside streets can be risky , inside big cities at day time is safe but its not recomended at nights or in little cities.

Time to use you can calling taxi sevices 24/7

Quality of service Official taxis and taxi services have good condition but taking unofficial taxis inside streets maybe give you low quality of service and car.

Costs Using taxi like other countries is more expensive than other urban transportation systems. taxi's cost can reach to even 20usd for urban transportation

Problems

Metro

Iran’s big cities are trying to develop metro lines to reduce the traffic and the pollution inside the city. But other cities like Shiraz and Mashhad started using metro after Tehran. Subway network in Ahwaz and Tabriz is expected to open in near future.

Among all of them the Tehran metro is the most important one because of the huge traffic in the capital during rush hour and the pollution of the mega city. Tehran metro is cleaner and safer than many famous metros of the world.

Consider that during rush hour (especially between 5p.m. -8p.m.) Tehran metro gets so overcrowded and uncomfortable.

Metro stations have even some sculptures and paintings which are nice, but notice that taking photos in the metro stations is strictly forbidden for security reasons.

How to Take

Safety General safety in metro is satisfactory but keep an eye on your belongings during rush hour. In case of a problem each metro station has police booths and you ask them for help.

Time to use you can calling taxi sevices 24/7

Quality of service Except for rush hour metro can be the best way for traveling inside big cities because it is fast, comfortable and cheap. During rush hour it is the fastest way of travelling, but you have to be ready for packed wagons.

Costs You can pay using metro tickets or public transport card which will be less than 30 US cents for one way trips.

Problems