Shafaq News- Baghdad

Baghdad has around three million registered vehicles, while Iraq’s state-run passenger transport company operates a fleet of roughly 1,000 buses, underscoring pressure on the capital’s transport network ahead of the new academic year, when more than 12 million students nationwide are expected to return to classes.

The school year begins on Sept. 20, and Planning Ministry estimates published in February 2026 put the number of registered vehicles nationwide at more than eight million, including roughly three million in Baghdad, a city of about 8.3 million people in a country of 46 million.

Transport Ministry spokesperson Hussein Ahmed said that the General Company for Passenger and Delegation Transport has around 1,000 buses of various capacities but cannot put the entire fleet into service because it lacks drivers.

The ministry, he noted, is seeking to fill that gap by transferring around 1,000 contract employees from the Electricity Ministry into driving, technical, and maintenance positions, after an earlier request for about 500 drivers through the Federal Public Service Council, clarifying that staffing must exceed the number of vehicles to keep services running during leave and days off.

Read more: Red buses keep Baghdad moving amid rising transport costs

Elsewhere, local arrangements have produced mixed results. In Nineveh, the company provided minibuses while the local government covered drivers and fuel, but similar programs in other provinces faltered after contracts expired or supplies became unavailable, Ahmed added.

Preparations for the academic year include additional services to universities and heavily traveled areas, with routes connecting several Baghdad districts to the University of Baghdad and Al-Mustansiriya University. Services also cover Baghdad International Airport and residential districts, alongside intercity links to Mosul, Basra, Kirkuk and Maysan.

The pressure on that system is unlikely to ease as private vehicle ownership continues to grow. The Iraq Future Foundation projected in January that Iraq’s fleet could exceed nine million by 2030.

Read more: New roads, old jams: Baghdad struggles to untangle daily gridlock

Road expansion has formed another part of Baghdad’s response. New bridges, removal of encroachments, staggered working hours, and proposals for higher registration fees have accompanied the capital’s first congestion-relief package, comprising 16 projects, most of which were to be completed by May 2026. Authorities have identified around 60 traffic bottlenecks across Baghdad.

Economist Ahmed Al-Janabi said infrastructure projects alone could not compensate for the absence of a modern mass-transit system, arguing that Iraq had gone roughly four decades without developing one. A bus carrying around 40 passengers could replace dozens of private cars, he estimated, reducing fuel consumption, accidents, and emissions. Investment in metros, urban railways, and interprovincial trains would therefore carry both economic and environmental benefits.

Former Transport Minister Salam Al-Maliki also favored staggered opening hours for educational institutions and government offices, collective student transportation, restrictions on trucks during peak periods, and dedicated bus lanes, proposing intelligent traffic systems and alternating vehicle access based on odd and even license-plate numbers if congestion intensifies.

Read more: $1.2B traffic fix fails: Iraq seeks radical solution