Amman, Nov. 3 (Petra) - The Land Transport Regulatory Commission (LTRC) reported a 58.8 percent surge in intercity bus ridership for October 2026, serving 604,220 passengers compared to 380,422 in September, an increase of 223,798 riders, according to an operational performance report released Tuesday.
The growth showcases operations across both phases of the regular intercity transport project, utilizing 336 buses, alongside two dedicated routes serving Al Balqa Applied University and Prince Hamza Hospital. Buses completed 28,542 trips covering over 1.84 million kilometers, representing month-over-month increases of 21 percent and 22 percent, respectively.
Intercity routes accounted for 468,425 passengers, a 55.8 percent increase, led by the Salt–Amman line, which served 99,620 passengers across 7,631 trips (up 33 percent). The Irbid–Amman line followed with 81806 passengers (up 21 percent), while the Jerash–Amman route logged 42,004 riders (up 52 percent).
Southern routes also showed significant gains, with Karak–Amman serving 21,720 passengers, Tafilah–Amman rising 87 percent to 19,341, and Maan–Amman expanding 67 percent to 11,634. Cross-regional northern and central routes experienced explosive growth, highlighted by the Zarqa–Mafraq line jumping 279 percent to 80,569 passengers, while Jerash–Irbid rose 177 percent to 21,799, according to the LTRC.
Specialized routes experienced notable increases: passenger volume on the Sweileh–Al-Balqa Applied University route more than doubled, climbing 112.4 percent to 92,436 riders, while the Madaba–Prince Hamza Hospital route grew 20.2 percent to 43,359.
Service reliability remained high, achieving 100 percent schedule compliance on the Zarqa–Mafraq line and 99 percent compliance across several major regional routes.
The LTRC noted that these figures display growing public reliance on structured bus transport and show the need to maintain frequent schedules to support commuting demand.
//Petra// HA
