Towards achieving Sustainable Urban Mobility in Egypt: An

Integrated Transport Approach

Dr. Iman Mohammed Wafaei Ramadan

Counselor to President for International Transport and Logistics AffairsArab 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 AlexandriaFrance 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 taxiaccording 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 MobilityReplacement 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 MobilityDedicated 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

Autobeesy Feen#autobeesyBored 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#nomadA revolutionary community based carpooling and assistance application. It connects you and your friends together using Facebook. Passengers looking for a ride c...Emokhalfa#emokhalfaEmokhalfa aims at enhancing driving conduct and helping the community to safer roads by creating means of delivering community pressure to their fellow drivers....

1-The State of Art Of Egypt on Sustainable Urban Mobility The Cairo Transport Apps

2-The legal framework of public transport in EgyptThe 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

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 And Problems On Public Transports And 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

Affordability

• According to the Cabinet Information & Decision Support

Center, an estimated 32,000 people are injured in traffic-

related accidents and more than 7,000 lose their lives on the

road in Egypt each year.

3-Needs & Problems on Public Transports &Urban MobilitySafety

3-Needs & Problems on Public Transports &Urban MobilitySafety

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

SafetyTrain-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 MobilityAccessibility

• 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 MobilityAccessibility

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

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 And Recommendations To Further Improve The Current State

Towards a New Culture

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 H2020An 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

Thank You!

Dr. Iman Mohammed Wafaei Ramadan Counselor to President for International Transport and Logistics AffairsArab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime TransportMobile Phone: (002) 01001744793 Fax Number 002 0354Work address: PoBox 1029 Gamal Abdel Nasser Street, Miami ; Alexandria, EgyptEmail; imanrmdn@hotmail.com Iman.ramadan@aast.edu

Website of your organisation: http://www.aast.edu/