Ammon News - Jordan times- As the Kingdom gradually recovers from a crippling snowstorm, life has yet to return to normal for some of the capital’s residents who are having problems commuting from home to work or to universities.

Nineteen-year-old Laith Daradka was forced on Tuesday to walk for 30 minutes from his house to the main street in his neighbourhood of Bayader because he could not find a bus or a taxi.

“The main problem is that no taxis or buses travel the side streets because some of them are still blocked with piles of snow. They only agree to pick up passengers or them off on main roads,” he told The Jordan Times on his way back home.

Daradka was one of several Amman residents who complained about the lack of public transportation.

Many people were seen waiting for hours to take taxis or buses on the main road of Bayader.

Some Wadi Seer residents were forced to walk from their area up to Bayader because most bus drivers refused to go to Wadi Seer, Rabee Mohammad told The Jordan Times while waiting for a bus.

Mohammad Al Turk said he was unable to find a bus or a taxi to drive him to the Sweileh bus station.

“One man felt sorry for me and decided to take me to Sweileh for free. It took us around one hour to get there, while it used to take me only 20 minutes on normal days,” the university student added.

Emad Jaffal, a lawyer, noted that many of the capital’s residents were forced to walk long distances to reach the main road because no taxi driver was willing to take slippery side streets.

“It was also dangerous to walk on the street in the morning because of the icy conditions,” he told The Jordan Times.

Jaffal noted that Tuesday was the first day he went to his office because of the lack of public transport and the crippling traffic jams.

He criticised the government’s decision to delay working hours until 11am, saying that authorities should have made citizens stay home until Saturday.

“There is no use going to work this week because working hours start at 11am and most people will finish at 2pm. What kind of work will they manage to accomplish in such limited time?” he noted.

An Indian who resides in Jordan and identified himself as Vijay said some taxi drivers took advantage of the lack of transportation by charging additional fees.

“I took a taxi yesterday and the driver charged me an additional JD3,” added Vijay, who works at one of Amman’s shopping centres.

Abdullah Abu Sundos said some people used their own cars like taxis and charged passengers high fees.

Rafat Momani, a bus driver, said he received more passengers on Tuesday than the previous day.

“Some Ammanis felt bored staying at home, so they wanted to go out either to shop or visit their friends,” added Momani, who has been a bus driver since 2006.

He called on authorities to work more on making the roads safer for motorists.

“The streets need more salt so that motorists can drive easily. Some bus drivers were forced to stop at the 5th Circle and a few passengers decided to go the rest of way on foot.”