Background:
Traffic congestion is not a new problem. The number of automobiles and trucks have been increased during the last few decades after the car boom period. So there was an urgent need for constructing more highways and bridges , improving traffic-signal controllers, making changeable highway signs, rerouting rush hour traffic, creating traffic-control centers that monitor and display the overall traffic conditions, using preplanned alternative traffic solutions based on repeated daily traffic patterns, etc. However, some strict financial sanctions or fines must be applied to eliminate the problem of traffic jam.

For Jeddah city, the streets are overcrowded with cars and people. At the same time, the airports are welcoming a large number of newcomers all over the world every day. Moreover, the number of roads and bridges is not sufficient to the increasing number of vehicles. In addition, in Jeddah there are approximately four million people both Saudis and expatriates who use over one million vehicles to move around the city. We also expect more.

Causes of traffic congestion inside the cities
Saudi Arabia is a modern Country, but it also has a modern and serious problem. Every day in the morning and evening, the roads and streets are so crowded with cars, taxis, buses and trucks. In this part will mention the causes of traffic congestion in Saudi Arabia’s major cities. In the next lines, we will speak about the several reasons for traffic problems in Saudi Arabia’s major cities.
Firstly, there are many private cars in the streets because of the lack of public transportation such as buses, trains, trams, metro, etc (Putra, J). Secondly, current public transportation like buses is not well-organized. For example, bus drivers can stop anywhere they like carelessly without paying attention to the other cars on the road (Putra,j). In addition, the huge number of taxis beside the large number of private cars made the problem worse. Thirdly, the road network is another cause of traffic jam. Although the highways and roads are developed, they still are not enough to the rapid expansion of the population (Putra,J). Moreover, many street lights are programmed when they are first installed and are not reconfigured from time to time. As a result, many traffic lights are poorly timed and eventually it leads to traffic congestion. Fourthly, the lack of Planning of city roads, low road space and unplanned parking areas also add to the causes of traffic congestion. Also, the excavation works which are spreading all over our cities are considered one of the major problems of the traffic jam. Finally and generally speaking, Saudi cities’ traffic problems are caused by an over-reliance on private transport and the failure to keep up with the rapidly expanding population. However, the city has shown it can solve problems in the past, and I am confident that it can reduce traffic congestion in the future. Researches must be done in order to find a solution for this problem.

Causes of traffic congestion out the cities
As our country continues along with the rapid and continuous economic development, new demands must be put on the transportation infrastructure of the country. This is particularly evident inside and outside the cities where the traffic jam cannot be avoided. Faced with a mounting traffic crisis, I suggest that the government should focus on improving public transportation as well as improving roads and highways. Public transportation should be paid attention because they are cheaper, better for the environment, and a better long-term solution for meeting the transportation demands of the future.
There are many causes of traffic congestion out of the cities. Firstly, the traffic jam between large cities is mainly due to the increase in the number of private cars on the road since the cheaper prices of gasoline and other fuels as well as there is a lack of effective public transportation network connecting the cities (traffic). Secondly, the different speeds between buses and small cars cause traffic congestion since there are no bus lines. However, the efficiently improved bus network is needed. Thirdly, the absence of regional train network and metro is another cause of traffic congestion. Also traffic congestion between cities may be caused by the lack of the well-paved highways and roads. We can observe this especially in the crush seasons like Ramadan and Al-Hajj in which residents are facing great difficulties driving on these crowded highways and roads (traffic). However, one of the large cities of the kingdom like Makkah, which people all over the country come to visit, has not seen any new road projects over the past 25 years (Traffic). Moreover, some roads are poorly designed and there are no parking lots on both sides of the roads. These roads were not designed to accommodate the huge number of vehicles (Traffic). Fourthly, ring roads are not providing optimal benefits because they have not been completed yet ( Traffic). However, we need more ring roads to distribute traffic to different roads and prevent vehicles outside the city from using internal roads. Consequently, traffic congestion will be reduced (traffic). Finally, the absence of super high ways which are the 12-lane motorways is causing traffic congestion on highways and in the countryside (.Jowit,J).

Financial Proposal:
The problem of traffic congestion could be solved through the use of road pricing, tax levies on fuel prices and improving roads and rail way transport. These solutions will be individually analyzed in the next lines in terms of their advantages and disadvantages.

Road Pricing:
Road pricing is a policy that charges motorists for using a road (Brown, ). These payments, collected from the people who are using a road for developing the infrastructure, are called fees. The difference of pricing during rush and other hours would be a solution to the traffic congestion because road users will try to use the roads over off peak hours due to the low charges and therefore this would help solve the problem of traffic congestion.

Advantages of road pricing:
Road pricing helps to eliminate or reduce the problem of traffic jam which is a useful way of decongestion. For example, Dubai Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) researches show that road pricing will decrease traffic by 25% (Corder, ). In addition, It is a source of revenue to road authorities and it will be used for expanding the available road infrastructure as well as improving the public transportation and the existing roads. This will be useful to reduce traffic jam during peak hours (Brown, ). In some ways, it helps to decline the negative effects of traffic congestion like pollution, noise and waste of petrol. However, it does not attack the poor people because few poor own cars. Finally, road pricing will create job opportunities in these toll stations (Brown, ).

Disadvantages of road pricing:

Firstly, road pricing will require middle income people to use public transportation which will let them feel inferior (Brown, ). On the other hand, motorists may find the fees negligible or humble. So the problem of traffic jam will still exist. Next, the process of developing toll stations may demand of hiring a large number of employees and high administrative costs (Brown, ). However, the toll stations might be a cause of traffic jam in that it will ask them to provide a service for many cars at one time and therefore will slow traffic (Brown, ). Finally, it will decrease sales, especially in shops between bus stops.

Fuel pricing
The government might increase fuel prices that may solve the problem of traffic jam (stanely, J). Gasoline levies will increase the price of gas prices used by cars and this will discourage people from using their own cars and rather rely on public transportation which will help to solve our problem (William, N). However, this will have some negative impacts such as loss of confidence level in the current government due to such policies and inflation.

Advantages
High fuel prices will help reduce and eliminate the problem of traffic jam in that levies will increase the price of fuel and therefore people may switch to public transportation because it is cheaper (William, N). In other words, reducing the number of cars will help to solve traffic congestion. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has recorded a decline in the number of cars in roads, high ways, tunnels and bridges when it raised fuel price and at the same time public transportation users have increased (William, N). In addition, the margin revenue that was collected will be used in many ways to develop or improve road networks and road infrastructure. Finally, people may limit their travel activities since the fuel price increased; which achieved our goal.
Disadvantages
From the history data of fuel prices and its associated demand, we can observe that they are obviously changing but the demand for fuel still slightly changed. So we can note that it is not the desired solution. Next, when the price of gas increases, this could cause economic impacts such as economic inflation because in all the economic sectors and levels fuel is important and affects directly and indirectly in production (William,N). Moreover, inflation caused by increasing in fuel or gas price will affect the poor by creating a kind of inequality.
However, high price of gas or fuel may not be the final solution to solve this problem especially in the kingdom because the public transportation system is underdeveloped as well as a lot of Saudis are not familiar with public transportation. For example, the buses schedules in some cities of the kingdom are limited and it is always not fully occupied. On the other hand, many people still prefer to drive their own cars even with the increase of fuel pricing. Finally, high office workers would ready to pay a small amount of extra charge to go direct to their work in order to save their valuable time.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that traffic jam is a serious problem that needs a solution.. No one can deny that the traffic problem affects badly the economy of the country because when the roads and streets have a kind of traffic paralysis, they affect the process of transport all over the country. So, All parts of the society, the government and the nationals, should unite together to find a radical solution to the problem of traffic.