JEDDAH, 24 November 2005 -- A fierce illegal competition between SAPTCO and the owners of private vehicles is taking place right in front of SAPTCO's station in Jeddah's popular downtown area.

Colorful buses, minivans and even small vehicles are parking right next to the company's base, waiting to poach passengers from the bus company and hit the road with SAPTCO's clients, who are usually given a ride at half the usual price.

Even with the high risks of vehicle confiscation and a 15-day jail sentence, most of the drivers claimed that it is their only income and "is therefore well worth the risk." They also complained in general about the unfairness of SAPTCO's monopoly of the road transport business.

Most clients happen to be foreign workers and Umrah visitors, who are willing to face the risk as long as they can make great savings.

Each vehicle is manned by a driver and what they call a "snatcher" whose job is to stand in front of the main gate of the company in order to grab customers.

Walking in the noise polluted area, all the names of the Kingdom's cities can be heard as drivers call out popular destinations.

Some people, especially owners of larger busses announce over portable microphones while others employ more creative tactics by playing recorded announcements on a high-fi stereo alerting passengers to their routes.

Regular small vehicle owners just walk around with their ghutra (head gear) over their shoulder and attract potential customers by even sticking their heads from the windows to flag down every car passing by.

Prices are fluid depending on the season, destination and desperation of the vehicle's owner.

One of the reasons for their survival is their collaboration with each other as some drivers who receive extra clients passes them onto one of their accomplices.

If a customer asks for a location they would also help in finding a driver who's going in the same destination.

A trip with a SAPTCO bus from Jeddah to Riyadh, which costs around SR135, could be found for as little as SR80 with an illegal vehicle and in low season as low as SR60.

A SAPTCO official told the Arab News that they are having a hard time dealing with such illegal competitors, who are causing significantly big losses to the company.

He said that they have sneaky ways to manipulate the police as they temporarily suspend their activities and pretend that they are just normal people sitting in the cafes next to the company. "As soon as the police leave, they rush back to work," he said.

Saad Al-Bugami, a Saudi in his mid-20s, bought his 2003 Toyota Camry by installment and is paying off his debt by taking passengers around the Kingdom.

"I failed to find a job," he told the Arab News and then he started shouting "Riyadh" to a number of people passing by.

Standing on the opposite side of the road with SAPTCO behind him, he said, that he does the Jeddah-Makkah-Taif-Riyadh route, and the price is negotiable.

The trip depends on the clients he finds during his search. "If I find four people going to Taif for instance then it would be my route for the day," he said.

The most profitable route for him to take is that of Jeddah-Riyadh, as he charges approximately SR60 per head. Makkah and Taif costs between SR20 and SR40, but prices are always up for negotiation, he said.

Salem Al-Zughby, a Saudi in his 40s who looks much older than his age, is driving a huge 30 passenger bus, which is stationed in the big parking lot just next to SAPTCO. He was sitting alone inside his half-filled bus while his Indian worker was off to catch more customers. He said that he's driving a vehicle worth SR300,000 and has to work extremely hard to break even with his investment.

"It is much riskier for bigger vehicles," he said. "We run the risk of getting caught much more easily than small vehicles, who can claim that they are carrying their friends."

Al-Zughby drives to Tabuk in the north because, as he claims, the route is "safer", compared to the one going to Riyadh. "Authorities over there are very strict. I've heard about many people who lost their vehicles, got jailed and fined for their actions."

Some people, he said, get public transport plates from certain cities in the Kingdom, which allows work within a certain limit.

Those people use the plates when they are leaving major cities to deceive the authorities and when they get off the road swap them with their normal plates. He claimed that he never did this because it would put him at considerably more risk than he could handle. He claims that he had been in the business for the past two years and never got caught once.

"We need a break. This is the only work I can do and I have a big family to support," he said.

By Hasan Hatrash

© Arab News 2005