Ethiopia Traffic Jam: Getting Around in Addis Ababa

Getting around the capital city of Ethiopia in 2013 meant inching through traffic in a wheezing Soviet-era Lada taxi. Addis Ababa seemed like a never-ending traffic jam.

During my visit in 2013, people blamed the road chaos on construction of a light rail system that was supposed to be finished in less than two years. Workers were chipping away at the project with hand tools and the occasional earth mover.

Then vs. Now in Ethiopia

Trains later began operating in 2016 but the problem-plagued system was running at a 70 million dollar deficit. The cost of Ethiopia’s participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative was a crushing debt, with little improvement in traffic congestion to show for it. 

Except for the main arteries, few roads were paved in 2013. When we stopped at a light, our car was surrounded by young men selling a variety of wares.

Cars and trucks competed for space with herds of sheep and goats. And donkeys hauling cement to endless blocks of half-finished apartment buildings. In the downtown area, the unfinished buildings were taller.

People crammed into buses or lined up to fill private vans that ply the main routes. It’s the commute from hell.

The Lada is popular with Ethiopian taxi drivers. You’ll see a lot of the iconic cars from the Soviet Union wheezing along in the streets of Addis Ababa.

Vintage cars from the Soviet Union

In 2013, nearly all the taxis were Ladas. The sturdy automobiles that once were mass-produced in the Soviet Union — still chugging along on the streets of Addis.

Fortunately, when you have to get somewhere, Addis Ababa’s taxi drivers are fearless. The young man who picked up my group outside the African Union Conference Center proudly announced that he learned English from listening to American rap lyrics.

Finally at my destination: the African Union Conference Center, site of the International Family Planning Conference in the capital of Ethiopia.

Terry’s Travel Tips

While participating in an international journalism exchange to Ethiopia, I stayed at the Bole Ambassador Hotel. Sorry, but after one of my worst-ever hotel stays, I can’t recommend it. Check the reviews of the top hotels in Addis Ababa and book your reservation elsewhere.

Read more about the food in this post on Ethiopia’s unique coffee ceremony, a must-do experience in the land that claims to have invented the beverage!

Want more insider tips on travel off the beaten path? Like @strangersinthelivingroom on Facebook, and sign up for my FREE monthly travel newsletter.  I’m @terryanzur on Twitter and Instagram. And check out the Terry Anzur YouTube channel for fun travel videos from around the world.