The purpose of this project is to
reduce the congestion costs that Cairo and its residents endure yearly as well
as improve accessibility for its residents. The specific problem that the
project is addressing is the increased car ownership, which has exacerbated the
congestion problem in Cairo. The project is addressing this challenge by
improving the options that residents have for mobility, at various scales of
travel. Specifically, this includes bringing in new technologies, such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems,as
well as a local solution to improving Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) modes. With
this project, Cairenes will have more and better options that are more efficient
and can encourage a shift away from the private car to more sustainable forms
of transportation.
This project is focused on
implementing the paradigm shift that is purported in UN HABITAT's “Planning and
Design for Sustainable Urban Mobility” book, which advocates that cities should
move away from “transport oriented mobility” to
“accessibility based sustainable mobility.” In this vein, the project is focused on
encouraging a modal shift away from private cars to public and non-motorized
transportation. This will be a pilot
project that MoH can then use able to leverage its positive social, economic
and environmental effects to scale up across the city.
BRT has the potential to move up
to 40,000-people/direction/ hour at 20-30 km/h.
It has proven to be very successful in countries all over the world,
with Bogota, Colombia often being cited as the largest success story. The project strategy is not only to introduce
BRT and NMT modes, but to make sure they complement existing forms of
transportation in order to form an integrated transportation system for Cairo.
BRT in particular is a very
appropriate solution for the congestion problem due to its relative low cost to
construct in comparison with other transport systems and the speed with which
it can be built. BRT has also been able to operate in cities in Latin America
without operational subsidies, and instead their funding relies on 100% farebox
recovery. This is especially important for the Government of Egypt, which is
trying to lift public subsidies that pose a significant burden country's
budget. Between the periods 1979-2005 Cairo was able to build two metro lines
that currently move approximately 1.5 million people a day. However, this
simply is not enough for a city with a population of 20 million. Thus, the priority for the government and for
UN HABITAT is to introduce technologies that can be implemented in a short
period of time, are cost effective, and are scalable. BRT and NMT are precisely
those solutions. NMT is also a key strategy for addressing the “last mile”
or “last kilometer” problem. In order to
boost ridership on public transportation systems, NMT modes can serve as a tool
for getting customers to mass public transportation systems. Often times,
people opt for the car because the transportation system is not close enough or
convenient enough, but bikes can address this issue. Furthermore, small trips
can be entirely completed by bikes and thus reducing the dependency on
motorized transport.
According to UN HABITAT's “Planning and Design for Sustainable
Urban Mobility” Report: “many of the environmental challenges in the urban
transport sector are rooted in its reliance on the non-renewable fossil fuel to
propel private motor vehicles (11)”. Furthermore, “many of the environmental
challenges in the urban transport sector are rooted in its reliance on the non
renewable fossil fuel to propel private motor vehicles.” Thus this project will move Cairo further
towards a clean and sustainable city and it currently suffers from high levels
of pollution.
Partners for this project will be
the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), General
Organization for Physical Planning, as well as the Cairo Transport Authority
(CTA) and the Cairo Governorate. The project will also work with international
consultants and experts in the field of BRT and NMT planning in developing
cities.
For this project UN HABITAT will
be providing project management and knowledge services. UN HABITAT is
responsible for bringing the lessons learned from around the world to ensure
successful implementation of the project. It will also use its expertise and knowledge
to bring in and to select the most qualified experts in this subject manner to
advise the project. UN HABITAT will be
responsible for the overall design of the project. This includes setting the
strategy and vision, articulating a clear roadmap for achieving the desired
objectives, and ensuring that the project gets to the final stage of creating
Tender documents for the construction, operation, and maintenance of both BRT
and NMT pilots.
This project hopes to reach all Cairenes but will target three specific groups:
Car users- The aim is to encourage car users especially those who drive alone to use alternative modes of transportation that are more efficient. By providing high quality comfortable mass transit, car users may shift to mass transportation options and therefore take advantage of gains in travel time and more affordable modes of travel.
Urban poor- by promoting affordable transportation modes, this will provide greater mobility to the urban poor and can reduce time traveled and cost of travel. Currently, the urban poor often have to take multiple connections to reach their destination each with a separate fare. The aim is that providing high quality mass transit options such as BRT will reduce this. In addition according to the World Bank Congestion Study, in the Greater Cairo Metropolitan Area, “about 2/3 of all motorized trips are made by public transport (mostly taxis and minibuses)” (18) yet “it appears that road traffic is dominated by private cars with a 70% share” (62) of the modal split. The urban poor in Cairo cannot afford cars yet they are severely suffering from the congestion problem.
Youth- A large percentage of the city's population is composed of youth and they are the groups with ability to change social and behavioral patterns
The project will also look at gender equality and women's empowerment through transportation and mobility options. Gender considerations are taken into account on existing transportation services, such as the metro, where there is a separate car just for women. High quality transportation services can break down gender barriers and provide access to opportunities that women may otherwise have difficulty reaching. Throughout the planning of the BRT system and the NMT services ,the project will pay special attention to how these services can better enable women to move around the city.
