All you need to know about Egypt’s new bike-sharing project ‘Cairo Bike’

CAIRO – 2 March 2022: The German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, in cooperation with the United Nations Human Settlements Program "Habitat", announced Tuesday, during a round table of experts, the launch of the "Cairo Bike" bike-sharing project in Cairo Governorate.

The initiative aims to support motor transport, reduce air pollutants, climate change and carbon emissions, and improve traffic.

In this report, et highlights 10 information about the bike-sharing project:

1- The project has been in preparation since 2016. Studies were carried out in cooperation between the Cairo Governorate, the United Nations Human Settlements Program (Habitat), and the Swiss Dorosos Foundation, to prepare for the project, which is scheduled to be launched soon in some areas of Cairo Governorate.

2- The project is consistent with Egypt’s 2030 strategy, and with the ongoing preparations to host COP27. The Cairo Bike project is scheduled to be launched experimentally within two months, followed by the operation of the first phase of the project, in Downtown, Garden City and Zamalek areas.

3- The project is to be implemented within Cairo governorate, and it includes 45 stations, with a main station in Tahrir Square.

4- The objective of the project is to improve traffic and encourage a culture of cycling.

5- Cairo Governorate contracted with an Egyptian-Danish consortium that will be responsible for purchasing, maintaining and operating bicycles within the framework of the first phase of the project.

6- Cairo Governorate seeks to expand the project to include other areas in Cairo in the coming stages.

7- The bike-sharing project (Cairo Bike) has been launched in cooperation with the Cairo Governorate and the Swiss Drosos Foundation since 2016, and it will be launched on the ground next May.

 8- It includes 500 bicycles, and 45 stations in the downtown, Zamalek and Garden City areas, including stations next to the subway to facilitate the use.

 9- The project allows the user to subscribe to different packages on an application dedicated to bike-sharing, allowing the user to rent a bike from one station and park it at another station.

10- Egypt is currently working on preparing a national cycling strategy in cooperation with the Urban Communities Authority, and it will be launched soon.

Work in the field of transport transformation began in 2015 when the report on the nationally determined contributions for each country was prepared. Studies at that time showed that the transport sector contributes to a quarter or a fifth of carbon emissions, and that reliance on mass transportation is one of the solutions to confront weather changes.