A bird's-eye view of the 6th of October Bridge at Ramses Square reveals Cairo's endemic traffic problems

Governor wants a quieter Cairo

By Gamal Essam El-Din

Shehata said the plan had been approved by the Cairo city council and a special ministerial committee made up of the ministers of transport, housing, interior and local administration, as well as the three governors of Greater Cairo -- Cairo, Giza and Qalyubia. Moreover, he added that a special department responsible for traffic planning has been established at the Cairo governorate.

"The plan aims at making Cairo a more beautiful place, quieter and easier to drive in," Shehata said.

According to the governor, more than 1.5 million cars circulate in Cairo's streets every day, although the city's streets were designed to accommodate a mere 500,000. "By the year 2000, the number of cars on the city's streets will rise to at least two million per day. This means that demand for driving space will be very high while supply is limited. There is an increasing trend among Cairenes to own private cars. In the year 2000, there will be 75 cars for every 1,000 Cairo residents," he said.

Shehata also pointed to the increasing number of minibuses and microbuses on the streets. "We have around 50,000 minibuses and microbuses on the streets each day, although the licensed number is 8,500," he said. "As a result, Cairo is caught in a spiral of traffic jams and pedestrians are increasingly squeezed into a smaller space."

This is why a seven-point plan will be put into operation in order to thin out the traffic. The plan includes moving a number of taxi and bus terminals from the heart of Cairo to alternative sites.

The Ahmed Helmi terminal for taxi-cabs serving the Nile Delta and Alexandria will be moved from its present location behind the Ramses railway station to Shubra Al-Kheima on the northern edge of Cairo, Shehata said. The relocation, at a cost of LE10 million, will be made in October.

The terminal for buses serving the Delta as well as Upper Egypt will be moved from Abdel-Moneim Riad Square to Al-Torgoman area in Boulaq district, Shehata said. "This will relieve the usually congested Al-Galaa Street of many of its traffic problems," he added. The new site, 52,000 metres square, is to be bought by the Holding Transport Company for LE86 million.

The plan also includes building a series of underground parking areas. These will be constructed according to the BOT [Build, Operate, Transfer] system, "which means that a number of local and foreign investors will be given concessions to build and operate these structures for a certain period of time before control is transferred to the government," Shehata said. A number of specialised European and American companies have shown interest, he added. These structures will be built in a selected number of public squares such as Al-Tahrir, Abbassiya, Roxy, Al-Azhar and Darrassa.

The plan also calls for extending the subway lines to Cairo Airport and the Giza governorate. "This means that, in the next century, citizens will be able to take the underground from Cairo Airport all the way to Giza and the beginning of the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway," Shehata said. "This will help a lot in reducing traffic congestion."

Shehata asked parliamentarians to approve a Cairo governorate proposal for establishing toll gates along the main entrances to the Helwan-Heliopolis highway, known as "autostrade", with the proceeds going to fund maintenance of this vital road. "This 54km-long road needs maintenance and I hope you will approve a draft law aimed at raising the necessary funds," Shehata said.

Shehata's call for a new traffic law was not received with enthusiasm by some parliamentarians. Abdel-Moneim El-Oleimi, an independent, said other measures are needed before a law providing tough penalties for offenders is passed. These measures, he added, should aim to better protect pedestrians.