URBAN TRANSPORT STRATEGY FOR CAIRO: ADVICE AND DISSENT

Greater Cairo, Egypt, in the early 1980s suffered from severe traffic congestion, polluted air, and high accident rates. Its population was growing at the high annual rate of 4%, and car ownership was growing at 17%, but the great majority of daily trips (63%) were by public transport. The road system was only 60% paved and consisted mainly of ordinary streets with poor traffic control. Public transport vehicles, operated by Cairo Transport Authority, were the main victims of traffic congestion, in addition to other, internal sources of inefficiency. In response, an unusual urban transport program was initiated at that time, partially financed by the World Bank. It consisted of low-cost measures, for example, improved traffic management, selected road improvements, and greater productivity and cost recovery in public transport. A review of Cairo's experience since the mid-1980s reveals that the actions actually implemented in Cairo went in the opposite direction from the low-cost approach. For example, traffic management measures were minimal; cost recovery and efficiency in public transport, after initial improvements, actually decreased; and parking capacity was increased, but parking management was not. What has been done is a variety of large-scale investments, of which Cairo Metro is the most prominent, but considerable road building has also taken place. Four issues whose resolution would reduce the gap between action and technical advice are identified: the acceptance or otherwise of the inevitability of street traffic congestion in Cairo, the need to diversify travel markets, possible sources of finance for transport improvements, and institutional arrangements and capacity to undertake lower-cost methods.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Features: References;
  • Pagination: p. 127-133
  • Monograph Title: Nonmotorized transportation around the world
  • Serial:

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00672547
  • Record Type: Publication
  • ISBN: 0309055237
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: Jan 12 1995 12:00AM