“You can get a metro ticket from here for an extra pound,” said the man on the seat behind me. He then loudly asked the driver on my behalf for a metro ticket, but the driver swore they had just finished. “I've never seen a metro ticket,” another passenger behind me said. By that time the sun was bright in the sky, and she drew the curtain, saying that air-conditioned buses were more comfortable. There is usually nothing special about Cairo minibuses, but this one is different. A panel on the side of the vehicle advertises onboard services, among them wi-fi, TV, air-conditioning and announcements at each stop. People on the side of street stare as we pass by, noticing the minibus's distinctive blue colour and roomy interior. With the rise in petrol prices, public transport needs to look more attractive, but millions of passengers still travel every day on buses that are old and broken down. The announcer's voice declares our arrival at the Khedr Al-Touny metro station on Tayaran Street. “The bus routes are linked to the metro lines, a new idea in Egypt though one that is familiar abroad,” explains Safwat Seddique, the bus driver on the Saraya Al-Qobba line that day. The M1 and M2 lines are assigned to Nasr City and go to Makram Ebeid Street and Abbas Al-Aqqad Street to drop off passengers near major metro lines. M3 goes to Al-Hay Al-Sabei, on the Abbassiya metro line that goes in the direction of Heliopolis and the Cairo International Airport. “It is my responsibility to ensure that the buses run punctually, that they are well maintained, and that a sufficient number of them are on the road to receive as many passengers as possible,” said Kirolos Nagi, stationmaster at the Saraya Al-Qobba stop. A smartcard ticket box is due to be installed in the next phase of the project. For now, metro tickets are not sold on buses. When the service started, each driver was assigned around 100 tickets a day, but now they are given only 25, he added. Bus tickets are LE2.50, and if a metro ticket is also purchased the total price is LE3.00. At the station in Al-Hay Al-Asher, one woman refuses to board the bus when she hears that metro tickets are not being sold. But the bus is clean and tidy and comfortable throughout the ride. Would it be possible to offer such premium service on all public transport? Passengers of all ages climb onto the bus. Five-year-old Mustafa enters the bus and asks where the television is. His mother says that she is used to taking the service, but not necessarily for the air-conditioner and TV. She doesn't know why they have been taken away. The bus driver explains that the TVs had to be removed for repair because they were damaged by children. Other buses on the route are air-conditioned, he adds. Another passenger is taking the bus for the first time, choosing to do so because it is very clean. Only 26 passengers are allowed to enter, so no one has to stand. Parents with small children can ride safely, with their children sitting on their laps, and not be jostled by a crowd of standing passengers in the summer heat. At Saraya Al-Qobba, the stationmaster takes a few minutes to rest, but the passengers, eager to make a move, hardly consider that the driver might need to recover after a long drive on crowded roads. Seeing an eight-year-old child standing on one of the seats, I remember asking Kirolos Nagi, the Saraya Al-Qobba stationmaster, about the line's maintenance programme. There is one in place, he said. I notice that the fabric under the plastic-covered seat beside me is already faded. The driver of a microbus moving too close for anyone's peace of mind shouts at our driver, “Where's the announcement, captain?” He does not reply. The noisy driver continues, “I'll be parking my vehicle soon and getting in beside you. You're going to put us out of business.” At this, our minibus driver smiles. Seddique says that more public awareness is needed to ensure that people meet the new high standards. “In Bahrain, six months before the new seatbelt law was passed, an awareness campaign was launched, and within three months people had started to wear seatbelts. We need to follow methods like these to develop people's awareness in Egypt,” he said. As I sit in the air-conditioned bus on my way home from Saraya Al-Qobba, I notice that the lever that opens the door is not working and the door has to be pushed open from the inside. But the air-conditioning is working, and the seat fabric is still taut and comfortable. I reach home on time, and I don't feel exhausted. I intend to look out for more of these new blue buses. Who knows what new routes I may discover?
