The difficulties of getting around in the city have been exacerbated by a number of factors; the control of local transportation companies in the number of buses, overcrowding of public transportation due to the sudden influx of people from east Aleppo and the high cost of fuel to name a few.
Many Syrians who are bound by the time constraints of work and school schedules view taxis as the most efficient mode of transportation but are finding that being able to get to where they need to be on time comes at an increasingly high cost.
Lately, resorting to using a taxi for even the shortest distance possible requires paying the driver a fare of at least 500 Syrian pounds.
Recently a heated public argument broke out between a young woman and a taxi driver who gave her a lift from the main square of the University of Aleppo to her home in the Baghdad Station neighborhood — a distance of no more than 1.5 kilometers.
"The distance does not need more than 8 minutes to reach my home and I have never paid more than 300 pounds,” she said.
“I gave him 500 pounds but he told me that it’s 1,000 pounds. When I refused to give him the amount, verbal altercations ensued.”
The unhappy driver was angry and called her a “stingy woman”, as if everyone in Aleppo was not also feeling the profound effects of the economic crisis brought on by the regime’s six year war against the people of Syria.
Ahmad Jaafar, a post-graduate law student, told Orient Net: “Many mini buses are not working due to the lack of fuel and since I am a lawyer, I have to be at the court early every morning. Lately I am forced to take a taxi on a daily basis and it costs me no less than 1500 pounds each time —and during rush hour the fees will be doubled!”
“It is so difficult for me to have to spend my monthly income on transportation fees especially nowadays when claims are not much,” Jaafar added.
Assad’s corrupt constituents are useless to interfere in this matter as the Ministry of Transportation — which is supposed to monitor and regulate fees and address complaints when violations occur — is loath to do its job since its appointees do not stand to gain anything personally by doing so.
A taxi driver attributed the reason for the price increase to the high cost of fuel on the one hand, and the overcrowding in the city after many people immigrated to west Aleppo, as well as huge traffic jams due to the abundance of checkpoints all over the city, on the other.
Another taxi driver, who refused to give his name for security reasons, said; “Drivers in Aleppo are forced to pay extra money for the actual gasoline in order to avoid having to wait in crowded gas stations and get it faster, increasing the cost to him and other drivers.
The driver added that he also wants to be able to live his daily life and be able buy major items that are only available at very high prices; therefore, it is necessary for him to raise the fees of his taxi.
Although the Assad regime continues to claim to be the only legitimate advocate for the people of Syria, national unity inside the regime controlled area of Aleppo is at an all-time low.
Even former Assad supporters have awakened to the fact that the only interests being looked out for are those of Assad and his cronies leaving every other business owner in the position of having to look out for himself — even if it means taking advantage of his fellow Syrians.
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