05:38 PM
Monday 01 August 2022
Books – Mahmoud Abdel Rahman:
In late July, Ekramy Abdel-Nabi, the official in charge of operating the “Cairo Bike” project in Cairo, announced that the date for making bicycle reservations available to citizens will start on August 1, saying: We have started the trial operation of the project in 5 stations where construction work has ended, and bikes and operators and maintenance workers are currently lined up.
This morning, August 1, which was supposed to be the date of making bicycles available to citizens at 5 stations in the downtown area, in exchange for one pound per hour or 8 pounds per day, as confirmed by Abdel Nabi, who was contracted by Rascom, which Cairo Governorate granted the concession to implement and operate the project, But the surprise was in his notification, yesterday, Sunday, that the project was postponed indefinitely, without giving clear reasons, he says.
And the official operating “Cairo Bike” in Cairo explained that the company that owns the concession asked him to limit the number of workers in the stations to spend their money, and his response to them was: “When the project was not ready, the calf went down on the ground, with me 18 people, who would sit in their house following they seemed to be working.” .
Maryam Abdel Nabi, one of the 18 workers who were the team that started its work in the middle of last July, at 5 stations in the downtown area, says that we currently have nothing to do with the project. .
Mohamed Kamal, the media advisor to Cairo Governorate, attributed the reasons for postponing the Cairo Bike project, which comes to reduce the use of cars on the streets of the capital for a clean environment, to the installation of some cabins for parking stairs, as well as the completion of some operating procedures, explaining that the opening will be announced in the coming days. official project.
Major General Ibrahim Awad, the official spokesman for the Cairo Governorate, said that the operating date will be set following the Cairo governor inspected the sites for the project, and the governorate officially announced the operating date.
The “Cairo Bike” project, which includes 500 GPS-tracked bikes distributed over 45 stations, is managed by a mobile application at low prices starting from EGP per hour or through a prepaid recharge card in many areas inside Cairo, in order to reduce dependence on cars, and aims to encourage Citizens to travel by bicycle.
The project is the product of a partnership between Cairo Governorate and development partners with the support of the United Nations Human Settlements Program “UNHABITAT”, funding from the Swiss Drosos Foundation, and technical support and supervision by the Institute for Transport and Development Policy “ITDP”.
