Lebanon’s public ride-share drivers fear livelihood crash

Fuel shortages and petrol price rises threaten to grind Lebanon’s public transport system to a halt.

Beirut, Lebanon – For the first time in more than 10 years, Khaled Abou Sleiman recently stopped driving his public ride-share van from the northern province Akkar to Beirut every day, saying he struggled to cover his vehicle’s skyrocketing running costs. In fact, he said he loses more money driving the van than by staying at home without work. Oil and tyre changes, and other maintenance costs for vehicles have fallen out of reach for many drivers as Lebanon’s currency continues to tumble from its official rate of about 1,500 pounds to the US dollar. Since late 2019, the Lebanese pound lost a whopping 90 percent of its value.