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Transport and communications

Transport in Sanaa is divided by gender, with a slight majority (51%) of male commuters using public transport and a similar majority (56%) of women travelling on foot. In both cases, using personally-owned cars was less prevalent than public transport (51% vs. 29% for men, and 25% vs. 20% for women). Use of bicycles and motorcycles is less; only 5% of male commuters and a negligible percentage of female commuters reported using them as primary modes of transport.

Public transport in Sanaa is primarily informal, with most vehicles being privately owned. Common passenger vehicles include microbuses (dabab s), which in 2005 were estimated to number 4-7,000 in Sanaa; minibuses ("nuss-bus"), estimated at 5,500–7,300; and taxis, which are more common at around 33,000. Public transport in the city center is well-developed, with frequently available bus and minibus services and several bus terminals (most terminals are informal), but the Sanaa outskirts are poorly served by comparison and often people "must walk long distances to reach one of the major roads." Most routes are short, meaning that longer north–south trips require switching buses multiple times. Additionally, the number of buses on the roads can vary from day to day, since bus driver licenses do not require drivers to operate on a regular schedule. This can lead to long waiting times. There are also coaches to major cities such as Aden and Taiz.

Sanaa has an extensive road network, which is where most formal investment has taken place. The city's roads are mostly north–south, with two major ring roads traversing the city. The highest volumes of traffic are within the inner ring road. Roads are often congested, which is compounded by the fact that many of the city's 33,000 taxi cabs often operate empty, and there is a high level of air pollution as a result. This air pollution is exacerbated by the fact that, like Mexico City or Kathmandu, Sanaa is located in an upland "bowl" surrounded by mountains, which creates thermal inversions that trap pollutants.

Sanaa has the most traffic accidents in Yemen, with 2,898 in 2013, more than twice as many as Ta'izz (which had the second-highest total). Contributing factors include lax enforcement of traffic laws, lack of traffic signals, lack of pedestrian crossings, and bad parking practices (for example, double parking is common, even when there are available parking spaces nearby). The number of traffic accidents plummeted in 2015 by more than 50%, as the escalation of the conflict in Yemen led to reduced mobility, as well as fuel shortages which led to decreased use of personal vehicles.

In 2017, the Saudi blockade of Yemen caused fuel costs to rise by over 100% in Sanaa, crippling transport systems and making it even harder for people to access clean water, food, and healthcare. By August 2019, the price of diesel had reached 430 riyals per liter, which was a 186.7% increase from the pre-war price; at the same time, the price of gasoline had risen to 365 riyals per liter, which was a 143.3% increase over the same period.