About five months have passed since the new, sleek white taxis hit Cairo's streets. The project appears successful for all involved. Ahmed Kotb reports "It has served drivers, customers, the look of our streets, and auto companies," Hisham Talaat, a new white taxi driver, said describing the Ministry of Finance project of replacing Cairo's old taxis. The 35-year-old driver praises the project for saving him personally all the troubles associated with his old meter-less black and white taxi. "Aside from all the technical problems I had to deal with every day, I had to enter into fights with many customers routinely," Talaat added. He admitted that he has always wanted to get rid of his old taxi and buy a new one, but high prices of new vehicles prevented him doing so until the announcement of the launch of the taxi replacement scheme in April. "Before I got my new vehicle, I had to drive in the heat all day long, arguing with customers all the time," Talaat said. "But now it has all changed. I drive my 2009 Speranza A516 with a meter and an air conditioner. No more sweating, and no more fighting with customers." The Ministry of Finance announced its new project to replace old black and white taxis with more than 20 years of service with 2009-model vehicles with five car manufacturers participating: Speranza, Chevrolet, Lada, Hyundai and Peugeot. Banque Misr, Bank of Alexandria and the National Bank of Egypt took part in the project, providing loans for drivers to get their new taxis through 30 branches available across Greater Cairo. These banks receive from Instant Media, the advertising company responsible for ads showed on the new taxis, LE550 monthly for each vehicle, which is a fixed sum considered an indirect part of the monthly instalment that drivers pay to the banks. According to Nabil Rashdan, assistant to the minister of finance, the purpose of the project is to return a civilised look for the streets, limit air pollution caused by old cars' emissions of carbon dioxide, improve drivers' standards of living, and to boost the local economy. "The project aims to replace 34,000 old taxis with new ones," Rashdan said. Old taxi owners simply trade in the old black and white cars for LE5,000, regardless of the car make and condition, and receive a car loan from one of the three participating banks to purchase a new taxi. Loans for the project run from LE45,000 to LE76,000, with a standard annual interest of 6.25 per cent. LE500 is set as a minimum monthly instalment, with a maximum of LE1,435. However, some drivers complain about the long time they had to wait before they actually got the new taxis. "I had to wait two months before I got the approval for the loan from the bank, and another two weeks to get the taxi," said Mohamed Ibrahim, 45. Talaat agrees with Ibrahim that the lengthy process of getting the taxi is stressful, contradicting with procedures announced. Rashdan clarified that first, old taxi owners should copy their national ID, birth certificate, an electricity or phone bill as proof of address, and their valid driving licence. Then they should hand in their old taxis to a scrap yard on the Cairo Desert Road and receive LE5,000 in return, which is considered a deposit for the new taxi. Finally, they pick up the new car from one of the auto companies participating. Despite the journey drivers had to undertake before they got their new taxis, all are happy that finally tense relations with customers are over. "Customers leave the taxi relaxed; they pay the fare set by the meter," Ibrahim said. "I definitely feel better using the white taxi, since the fare is already set and counted by the meter, not by the driver's mood," said Badr Mohamed, a frequent taxi user. The 24-year-old also expressed fears that some taxi drivers might ask more than the meter says if supervision disappears. "It happened to a friend of mine that a taxi driver asked him for extra because he turned on the air conditioner for him, which is a feature of the new taxis," Badr noted. Some drivers, like Ibrahim, were not sure that their new white taxis would attract the same quantity of customers they got with their old taxis. "At my first day of work I was sceptical, feeling that people would go for the old black and white taxis because they think they're cheaper, but I was surprised that I got nearly an average number of customers similar to with my old taxi," Ibrahim said. He added that although he makes a smaller profit, he could still pay his instalments and make a living. New metered and air conditioned taxis, however, were not the original brainchild of the Ministry of Finance. CityCab, a private company with yellow taxis, has been working in the Egyptian market since 2006, but has not gained the same acceptance and trust as the white taxi. The CityCab meter starts at LE3.5, including the first kilometre, with LE1.5 added for each kilometre. If the driver is to wait for the customer, LE10 per hour is counted. For the white taxi, the meter starts at LE2.5 and for each additional kilometre LE1.25 is charged. The first hour of waiting costs LE15 and increases by LE5 for each additional hour. The project has surely helped the five participating car manufacturers improve their outlook, and consequently saved the jobs of some workers. "The project has helped us a lot amid the economic crisis, thanks to the support of the government," said a source in General Motors (GM) that produces the Chevrolet Lanos for the white taxi project. The source added that the decision made by the government to grant car manufacturers participating in the project a tax-free advantage on car parts imports, along with other customs facilities, was helping to boost sales. GM now produces 70 to 80 cars a day in order to meet the heightened demand. The success of the taxi replacement project has led to serious consideration by the government of initiating a project for "replacing the old microbus", to achieve a complete upgrade of publicly used vehicles on the Egyptian street.
