Towards achieving Sustainable Urban Mobility in Egypt: An
Integrated Transport Approach
Dr. Iman Mohammed Wafaei Ramadan
Counselor to President for International Transport and Logistics Affairs
Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport
Egypt
3/19/14
Overview of Egypt’s Urban mobility
• Egypt population is now 86 million (2015)
• Population growth rate 1.96.
• Metropolitan Cairo population is 22million.(17 million
greater Cairo population and Cairo alone 12 milloion)
• The most populous metropolitan area in Africa and the
middle East. Ranks16th in the world
• Cairo population density of 19,376 people per square
kilometer. Ranks 42nd in the world.
Overview of Egypt’s Urban mobility
• The gap has been primarily filled with private owned
and operated shared taxis (so called informal
transport) and the use of private cars
• Consequently, congestion has become a major
problem and the air quality has deteriorated to an
alarming level.
• It has been estimated that between 10,000 and
25,000 deaths a year in Cairo can be attributed to air
pollution, to which transport is one of the main
contributors.
1-The State of Art Of Egypt on Sustainable Urban
Mobility
Metro lines in Cairo and future Alexandria
France already funded the construction
of Egypt's three metro lines which were
built between 1979 and 2012, with loans
amounting to approximately €1.2 billion.
2015 Egypt's National Authority for
Tunnels signed the French company
VINCI Bouygues Travaux Public to
complete the construction of the fourth
phase of the third metro line in Cairo.
Alexandria metro project is on its way to
be established with three phases to cover
the whole city
1-The State of Art Of Egypt on Sustainable Urban
Mobility
The introduction of buses equipped to serve people with special needs start
operations for the first time in Egypt.
The bus runs on eight lines to connect all cities and regions of Greater Cairo
and each new residential areas
1-The State of Art Of Egypt on Sustainable Urban
Mobility
Wifi internet enabled 24 new mini buses are operating in Cairo
1-The State of Art Of Egypt on Sustainable Urban
Mobility
A fleet of new buses operating in Cairo
1-The State of Art Of Egypt on Sustainable Urban
Mobility
Replacement of old taxis by the white taxi
according to law No. 121 for 2008 and its
amendments some provisions of the traffic
laws included the inadmissibility of the
license renewal for taxis over the date of
manufacture of 20 years.
The white taxi project was established for
the purpose of replacing the old taxis with
new ones supported by bank loans and
government support .
Total cars that were replaced during
the first and second phases of the
project put white taxi reached 43
thousand cars, the third phase
comprise replacement of 15 thousand
more cars
Scraping old Taxis
The State of Art Of Egypt on Sustainable Urban Mobility
Replacement of old trams by transit lane and hopes for
super tram
Transport in some districts
eg Heliopolic and elNasr
City:
from disfunctional tram to
temporary rapid transit lane
and dreams of supertram
The State of Art Of Egypt on Sustainable Urban Mobility
Dedicated bus lane
One of the
distinguished projects
in Cairo is Mostafa el
Nahas street
dedicated bus
lane.This projects
costs around 10
million dollars with
200 buses serving 30
bus lanes
and is suffering of
problems in practice
due to difficulty in
crossing the roads
1-The State of Art Of Egypt on Sustainable Urban
Mobility
Dedicated bus lane
1-The State of Art Of Egypt on Sustainable Urban Mobility
The Cairo Transport Apps
Autobeesy Feen
#autobeesy
Bored from waiting your Bus for a long time? How much times
you missed your bus or couldn't catch? Autobeesy Feen tells
you when and where your bus is last ...
Nomad
#nomad
A revolutionary community based carpooling and assistance
application. It connects you and your friends together using
Facebook. Passengers looking for a ride c...
Emokhalfa
#emokhalfa
Emokhalfa aims at enhancing driving conduct and helping the
community to safer roads by creating means of delivering
community pressure to their fellow drivers....
2-The legal framework of public transport in Egypt
The Right to Public Transportation and Urban Mobility in
the Egyptian Constitution
The right to urban mobility means that :• Citizens should be able to move freely within and between
cities and towns
• All individuals to have access to public transportation that is
safe, available in all neighborhoods& affordable.
• Special attention should be given to the needs of people
with disabilities to ensure they have equal access to public
transportation as well.
2-The legal framework of public transport in Egypt
National Environmental Regulations, Guidelines and
Policies
•
The main legal instrument dealing with environmental issues in Egypt
is Law 4/1994, amended by Law 9/2009 and Executive Regulation
1095/2011 which is amended by ER 710/2012.
• According to Article 1 of Law 4, Double-parked cars, motorists going in
the wrong direction and a complete disregard for traffic signals are just
a few of the typical sights on many of the country's streets.
•
In an effort to create order out of seeming chaos, the People's Assembly
passed new traffic legislation, Law 121/2008, which came into effect on
August 1, replacing many regulations that have been in place since
1973.
3-Needs and problems on public transports and
urban mobility
• Cairo, Egypt Ranked Six Worst Air City worldwide
• WHO data ranked Cairo as having the second-highest levels
of particulates in the world after New Delhi.
• Another WHO report equated living in the city to smoking a
pack of cigarettes a day.
• Because Egypt doesn’t use unleaded gasoline, citizens are
exposed to high levels of lead every day.
• On occasion, Cairo is also under what’s commonly called
“the black cloud”: a dense, poisonous mass of smoke
caused by the seasonal burning of rice ashes by local
farmers.
3-Needs and Problems on Public Transports &Urban
Mobility
In metropolis Cairo only 14% of residents own a private car.
the public transportation system does not have the capacity to
meet the ever increasing transportation needs of the city’s
growing millions of residents.
The emergence of satellite cities whose residents are strongly
connected to Cairo for work or social ties.
public policies neglecting this leaving people at the mercy of
informal unsafe forms of transportation that are not monitored
or regulated by the state.
3-Needs And Problems On Public Transports And
Urban Mobility
3-Needs And Problems On Public
Transports And Urban Mobility
Affordability
Public transportation in Egypt is relatively
affordable by international standards.
However, affordable transportation is not
always reliable and not always safe.
On average, 12 percent of the cost of living
for an individual in Cairo is spent on
transportation.
The Metro is the most affordable, popular,
and reliable transportation in Cairo, costing
just 1 LE for each trip.
Around 4 million passengers used the Cairo
Metro each day in..
3-Needs & Problems on Public Transports &Urban
Mobility
Affordability
Other means of commuting in Cairo
include public buses, minibuses,
micro-buses, and trams.
Microbuses, run by the private
sector, are an affordable option to
get around Cairo, but they are not
always reliable, and are unregulated
by the state.
For shorter distances in the
inaccessible, narrow streets
prevalent in informal areas, people
use tuk tuks (rickshaws), which are
unlicensed and at many times
operated by teenagers.
3-Needs & Problems on Public Transports &Urban
Mobility
Safety
• According to the Cabinet Information & Decision Support
Center, an estimated 32,000 people are injured in trafficrelated accidents and more than 7,000 lose their lives on the
road in Egypt each year.
3-Needs & Problems on Public Transports &Urban Mobility
Safety
Egypt’s railway network is 9570 km long with 705 stations covering all governorates
and a daily ridership of 1.4 million.
Hundreds of thousands of workers from towns around Cairo depend on trains for
their daily commute into the city.
Despite being an essential service to 500 million people annually, the railway service
is infamous for its unreliability and lack of safety.
The accident known as “the train of Sa`eed (Upper Egypt)” in 2002 was the worst
accident in the history of Egyptian railways and 373 deaths.
3-Needs & Problems on Public Transports &Urban
Mobility
Safety
Train-related accidents have become more
common; six accidents occurred since
November 2012,
Labeling these as “accidents” should not
negate the responsibility of the National
Railway Authority and the Ministry of
Transportation
Someone should be held responsible for
making the decision to spend millions of
pounds on aesthetic renovation projects instead
of upgrading the much-needed infrastructure of
the railway system that claims lives.
3-Needs & Problems on Public Transports &Urban Mobility
Accessibility
• Accessibility to transportation
means accessibility to the city.
• People live in Cairo’s informal
settlements not only because the
housing is more affordable, but
because they are closer to their
jobs, public services, and social
networks.
Transportation to and from these areas was heavily reliant on private vehicles, yet
most Cairenes do not own a car.
3-Needs & Problems on Public Transports &Urban Mobility
Accessibility
3-Needs
&Problems On Public Transports & Urban Mobility
Accessibility
Accessibility and urban mobility must also serve the needs of
the 3.5 percent of Egyptians who are disabled.
Buses and minibuses are usually too crowded to allow a
person with a wheelchair to board and there are very few
parking options specifically for disabled people close to their
destination.
4-Solutions And Recommendations To Further Improve
The Current State
Integrated transport
4-Solutions And Recommendations To Further Improve
The Current State
Service
4-Solutions And Recommendations To Further Improve
The Current State
Design
4-Solutions And Recommendations To Further Improve
The Current State
Pricing
4- Solutions And Recommendations To
Further Improve The Current State
Towards a New Culture
A new culture that appreciated the importance of sustainable to urban
mobility .
A shift in mentality of operators, users and planners through Education,
training and awareness raising activities have an important role to play,
Development of new knowledge, collection of data and monitoring of
trends.
Stakeholders should work together in developing this new culture for
urban mobility in Egypt
4-Solutions & Recommendations To Further
Improve The Current State
Encouraging use of public transport :
In Egypt there are Traffic problems due to the extensive use of private
cars. This is due to the low frequency and availability of good quality
and accessible public transport
1-The socio economic benefit of encouraging public transport.
2- Impact of fuel subsidies on the use of Public transport.
3- The socio- economics costs of poor public transport
4-Solutions & Recommendations To Further
Improve The Current State
• Facilitating multimodal journeys : The use of more than one mode
provides alternatives and flexibility to commuters The Paradox is how
to provide flexibility, efficiency while maintaining affordable prices
• 1-Improving Interface points for achieving seamless Urban mobility.
• 2 Integration of different modes of transport as a means of achieving
seamless urban mobility
5- Results On The Recommended Topics For Future
Cooperation Supported By The EC Within The Framework
Of H2020
• How to achieve Smart, Seamless, Sustainable and Safe
Public Transport given the limited resources
• Public Transport Finance: Public Private Partnership in
Urban transport: challenges and opportunities
• Urban Transport Pricing strategies: Fairness and feasibility
issues in public transport
• The economics of Public Transport: Achieving Supply /
Demand equilibrium in public transport
5-Results On The Recommended Topics For Future
Cooperation Supported By The EC Within The
Framework Of H2020
Accessibility for all
5-Results On The Recommended Topics For Future Cooperation
Supported By The EC Within The Framework Of H2020
Pricing tools to achieve sustainable outcomes
5-Results On The Recommended Topics For Future
Cooperation Supported By The EC Within The Framework Of H2020.
Smarter Transport Systems
Towards an integrated Transport system in Egypt
• Passenger information and traveller information services for promoting
public transport use
• Information Technology and e-ticketing as major tools for improving
public transport planning and promoting commuters experience.
• Information availability and e-ticketing as a major source of users
satisfaction
• Use of smart phone applications for traffic data collection and
information dissemination and for improving accessibility of public
transport
• Innovative means of information dissemination and data collection for
Planning and meeting new generations needs
5-Results On The Recommended Topics For Future
Cooperation Supported By The EC Within The Framework
Of H2020.
Urban logistics
• Urban logistics: urban freight transport is vital in
maintaining the economic functions of the city
• 1-Public Private Partnership for improving Urban Logistics.
• 2-Distribution networks and urban logistics optimization
• 3-reliabilty and availabilty: Benchmarking urban logistics
Performance: A case study approach
5-Results On The Recommended Topics For Future
Cooperation Supported By The EC Within The
Framework Of H2020
An Integrated transport Approach Smart Seamless and Safe
1-strategies for eliminating barriers to efficiency and
responsiveness of public transport
2- A comparative study between public transport in Egyptian
cities and major European cities.
3- Accessibility and affordability of public transport for all:
how to achieve it in Egypt
5-Results On The Recommended Topics For Future
Cooperation Supported By The EC Within The Framework
Of H2020.
River Transport improvement
• Develop the transportation service that are offered by Nile River
Bus Ferry to improve the performance of services level and
create an advanced level for services, to attract a larger segment
of its users by :
– Improve quality level of services .
– Increase terminals .
– Expansion the Nile trip path to extend from Hilwan to Al-Kanater
Al-Khairea throw the governorates Kaliobeya / Cairo / Giza .
– Decrease the trip time .
– Reduce pollution resulting from operation compared to current
status.
– Reduce subsidies from government
Results On The Recommended Topics For Future
Cooperation Supported By The EC Within The Framework
Of H2020.
River Transport improvement
• The Nile River Bus Ferry suffers from a high degree of
deterioration where 9 boats only are in operation , and the
terminals suffer from a high degree of deterioration which
reduces the numbers of users as a percentage of current
population. The required services are as follow :
• Purchase, finance and operate the River Transport Fleets(30
boats).
• Develop 16 current terminals and add around 12 new terminals
including : Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Maintain .
• Suggested project duration 30 years .
Promoting River Transport in Egypt
Dr. Iman Mohammed Wafaei Ramadan
Counselor to President for International Transport and Logistics Affairs
Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport
Mobile Phone: (002) 01001744793 Fax Number 002 0354
Work address: PoBox 1029 Gamal Abdel Nasser Street, Miami ; Alexandria, Egypt
Email; imanrmdn@hotmail.com
Iman.ramadan@aast.edu
Website of your organisation: http://www.aast.edu/
Thank You!