WATANI International
5 April 2009
Almost everyone agrees that a ride in a Cairo cab is not the best experience in the world. The vehicles are mostly old and dilapidated; they navigate the crowded streets with horns blaring, radio volume turned on to a deafening level, and windows open to allow in all the pollution and vehicle exhaust that Cairo air is notorious for. For just all these reasons, the government has embarked on an ambitious plan to replace the old Cairo cabs with brand-new, air-conditioned ones, with a nifty, elegant look.
Considering that some 40,000 cabs run in Greater Cairo, it is expected the new plan, which has the new cabs travelling Cairo streets this month, should contribute towards making Cairenes’ lives easier and reducing pollution in the vast metropolis.
The problem with finance
For starters, vehicles of first-time-licence cabs should not be older than five years, while vehicles already in use as cabs will not get renewed licences if they were manufactured more than 20 years ago. Besides serving to spruce up the cabs, these conditions will serve to reduce the suffocating pollution caused by vehicle exhaust fumes.
It is no secret that most cab owners cannot come up with the money needed to replace their old cabs. The Finance Ministry has thus instated a plan to help them with the financing.
Mohammed Shawqy, economic expert at the Finance Ministry, told Watani of the new plan. The public sector banks, Banque Misr, Bank of Alexandria, and the National Bank of Egypt, he said, will offer cab owners soft loans to help them raise the sums of money required to purchase the new cabs. In coordination with Egyptian vehicle manufacturers, Mr Shawqy said, a variety of vehicles has been made available for the owners to choose from. The new vehicles come at different prices and different payment conditions.
Reduced costs
In order to reduce the cost of running the new cabs, Mr Shawqy explained, the vehicles will be exempted of the sales tax and their spare parts will be exempted of custom duties. This should come as a huge relief to the cab owners, since the old cabs used to cost very little for their upkeep.
The ministry has made an agreement with advertising agencies to use the new cabs for advertising campaigns. A five-year campaign would bring in EGP25,000 for each cab, which should serve to significantly lower the monthly instalments for the new vehicle, Mr Shawqy said.
The metre
One of the chronic problems with the traditional Cairo cabs was that the drivers never operated the metre, but haggled with customers on the fee for every trip. A major reason for such behaviour was that the taxi metre started at a trifling EGP0.60. Even though passengers hated the haggling and the frequently exaggerated fees the drivers required, they fully realised the official price was too insignificant to enforce. Since no realistic official price existed, the door to haggling was wide open.
Brigadier General Nasser Baliegh, public relations manager at the traffic department, told Watani there was a hotline “136” for complaints against cab drivers. In case of the new cabs, he said, the metre will start at EGP2.5, with each kilometre costing EGP1.25, which should be a reasonable enough rate to enforce metre use.
Welcome project
Many drivers say they welcome the project. Mohamed Mustafa, 55, says: “My taxi is my only source of living. It was manufactured 32 years ago, and I will be glad to hand it in and get a new, modern one. I only wish the procedures would be as simple and attainable as they are said to be. I need to be handed the new taxi as soon as possible since I cannot afford to be out of work even for a short while.”
So, as of this month, three types of cabs will run through Cairo. The first is the one introduced by the new plan, termed the Greater Cairo Taxi Plan. Its vehicles will operate in Cairo, Giza, Qalyubiya, Helwan, and Sixth of October governorates. The vehicles will be white, decorated by a black ribbon. Second, there is the yellow Cairo Cab taxi which may be ordered by phone. And third, there is the old traditional black and white cab, all poised to be ultimately phased out.