CAIRO: With few Cairenes owning their own vehicle, most are dependent on other forms of transportation ranging from giant city buses to tiny mini-buses. When these forms of ‘public’ transportation are over-crowded – and they usually are – many opt to travel by taxi. Cairo is awash in these old black and white taxis that have a notorious reputation for their sometimes poor state of repair. Recently, however, a new breed of taxi has appeared on the streets of this crowded city: the white taxi. Sporting a white paint job with black-checkered side panels, these vehicles have fancy radios, seat belts and, sometimes, even air conditioning. On a recent trip home from the supermarket, hailing a white taxis to haul groceries was the best choice. When the driver opened the trunk, there was very little room for the bags. A tank of some kind was filling most of what would have been open space for the grocery bags. “Gas tank,†replied the driver succinctly upon questioning. Upon closer inspection, the white tank taking up more than half of the trunk turned out to be natural gas fuel storage. It turns out that, while these taxis may be painted white on the outside, they are quite green on the inside. The initial push for natural gas vehicles came in 1997 from the Cairo Air Improvement Project (CAIP), a USAID $60 million grant project to purchase natural gas buses. The project aimed to demonstrate that natural gas vehicles could be a cost effective alternative to gasoline or diesel. The program helped to show Egyptians that investment in natural gas vehicles, and the infrastructure that is required to fuel them, was an economical solution for transportation. By this year, according to the Ministry of the Environment’s figures, over 120,000 vehicles now run on compressed natural gas in Egypt and can fill their tanks at 116 natural gas equipped stations. Last year, the Ministry of Finance began a program to help black and white taxi owners comply with a new law that requires owners to replace taxis that are older than 20 years. The program helps owners with the initial costs of a new white taxi by paying them to scrap their older vehicles and also guarantees loans and discounts on monthly payments for the owners. Almost a cash for clunkers idea. “There are currently 15,000 new white taxis running on natural gas,†said Ahmed Abou Elfoud, a representative of the Ministry of the Environment, “and there are an additional 15,000 owners still on a waiting list.†While most of the black and white taxis, like French Peugeots, Italian Fiats, and Romanian Dacias originated in Europe, the new fleet of white taxis hails from further east. As drivers of vehicles older than 20 years are prevented from renewing licenses on their old vehicles, Cairo’s fleet of taxi will begin to take on a more Asian look. Though some of the cars are assembled locally, the designs for most white taxis originated in Asia. One of the more popular models, the Speranza A516, is actually a re-branded version of the Chinese Chery A5. This sedan took on its new moniker as part of a venture between Chery Motors and Egypt’s own Daewoo Motors. A new vehicle will cost a taxi driver between 50,000 and 60,000 Egyptian pounds ($9,000 – $10,900), depending on the model and features of vehicle. In order to obtain a new taxi, drivers must turn in their old model, for which they will receive between a credit of LE 5,000 ($900) for their two-decade-old vehicle. Drivers can choose between a natural gas or a standard gasoline engine when purchasing their new vehicle. Despite the fact that gasoline driven vehicles have cheaper up-front costs, most drivers have opted for the natural gas versions. This is because natural gas is much cheaper than petrol in Egypt, costing about a quarter of the cost to fill up the taxi’s tank with gasoline. Egypt, unlike many of its neighboring Arab countries, is not blessed with huge reserves of petroleum. As Egyptian authorities saw oil production peak in the 1990s, they looked for a way to keep Egypt from becoming a net importer of petroleum. One way was to begin to switch to natural gas powered vehicles. Coupled with new discoveries of natural gas reserves and the push to use natural gas for taxis and public transport, Egypt has remained a net exporter of oil and saw its natural gas production increase 30 percent in the last decade. Egypt currently produces about 2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas each year with proven reserves hovering around 60 trillion cubic feet. For the drivers, these new taxis provide financial and safety improvements for their profession. The new vehicles come with features like anti-lock brakes, power steering and working seat belts, things that many of the old taxis lacked. These safety features should help protect the taxi drivers and their passengers on Cairo’s dangerous roads. Egypt has been ranked the third most dangerous country to drive in with 6,000 deaths and 300,000 injuries occurring annually on its roads and highways. Egyptian authorities also hope that the white taxis will help drivers make more money in the future. While the initial cost of purchasing a natural gas vehicle is greater than that of a gasoline powered one, operating costs are lower. In general, maintenance costs for natural gas vehicles are lowers over the life of the vehicle, and, especially here in Egypt, the cost of fuel is less. In addition to the LE 5,000 ($900) credit for scrapping their old taxi, owners enjoy other financial benefits from the Ministry of Finance’s program. The taxi owners are exempted from sales tax and customs duties on their new vehicles and receive an additional LE 400 ($73) each month for displaying advertisements on the outside of their vehicle. This year, the Finance Ministry allocated LE 320 ($58) million towards the program and will continue to expand the incentives each year. “Every year more older taxi will go out of service, so we will have more demand,†said Abou Elfoud. Meanwhile, the 15,000 old taxis that the Ministry has purchased are sitting in a lot in the desert, awaiting the construction of a car recycling plant. By switching over to natural gas vehicles, Egypt is decreasing its dependence on foreign oil. With oil reserves declining, Egypt’s demand for fuel would, in the near future, outstrip domestic production. This would lead the country to begin importing fuel from its more petroleum-rich neighbors. Instead, the switch to natural gas allows Egypt to make use of an abundant natural resource. While the new white taxis help to keep drivers safer on the road and keep Egypt from being dependant on foreign oil, natural gas vehicles also help to keep the environment safer. One of the greatest benefits of natural gas vehicles is that they decrease environmentally unfriendly emissions. On average, natural gas vehicles produce 70 percent less carbon monoxide and over 80 percent less organic gas and nitrogen oxide. In cities like Cairo, where the streets are clogged with exhaust-belching old cars and mopeds, emissions from natural gas vehicles can be cleaner than the air around them. The Ministry of the Environment estimates that removing Cairo’s smog-producing old taxis will reduce yearly emissions in Egypt by 20,000 tons of carbon monoxide and 2,800 tons of nitrogen oxide. Since natural gas is primarily methane, it does not contain many of the other chemicals traditionally found in gasoline and diesel. This means that Cairo’s white taxi will not produce the same pollutants, like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides (which combine in the atmosphere to produce ground level ozone) and arsenic, that the older black and white variants currently do. So next time you travel in Cairo, don’t be surprised to see flocks of these white taxis on the streets and don’t be surprised if they can’t fit all your luggage or groceries in the trunk. What they lack in storage space, they are more than making up for by creating a sustainable fuel strategy and cleaner environment for Egypt. BM
