Egypt’s Minister of Transport Kamel al-Wazir has announced that the construction of the proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lanes on Cairo Ring Road, which loops around Greater Cairo, will start any time.

The minister made the announcement during his recent inspection tour of the Ring Road- the most important freeway of the Greater Cairo metropolitan area in the North African country serving nearly 213,000 vehicles on a daily basis.

The project team

This announcement comes barely a month after Egypt’s Land Transport Regulatory Authority and the alliance of bus rapid transit (BRT) system on Cairo’s ring road signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to conduct the technical and economic feasibility studies on BRT buses.

This study includes mobile units, stations, an electronic ticketing system, trip information, pedestrian crossings, waiting stations, and integration with other transportation methods.

Orascom Construction PLC (engineering, procurement, and construction contractor based in Cairo), Mwasalat Misr (a group of pioneering Egyptian companies specialized in providing smart sustainable urban mobility and transit solutions for cities of various scales in remerging markets), and MCV will also be involved in the development of this project.

Importance of the project

According to al-Wazir the BRT system upon completion will meet the increase in demand on transportation when the Egyptian Government moves to the New Administrative Capital (NAC) that is under construction 45km east of Cairo on the way to the port city of Suez, and it would come in line with the renaissance witnessed by Cairo’s traffic hubs.

It will also contribute to reducing traffic congestion along the ring road, as well as reduce the use of private cars and prevent microbuses from parking on the sides of the Road. The system will be integrated with the transportation network and future means of transport such as buses, monorail, metro, and railway lines, as well as light electric trains (LRT).