CAIRO: Twenty-five international technology companies have joined in the competition launched by the Cairo Metro Operation Agency for supplies and installation of passengers' access solutions using smart cards. The results of the contest will be announced on Dec. 20, 2006. Magdy Azab, chairman of the Cairo Metro Operation Agency, said the agency would install smart cards passenger access technology for less queuing to buy tickets and to save passengers' time. He said on Thursday that passengers would be able to use the same smart card in the underground system, railway stations, and buses. "This solution will bring down maintenance and replacement costs as smart card machines don't have much of a mechanical component, he said. The Ministry of Transport had earlier increased the price of metro tickets by 33 percent to LE 1 per ticket from LE 0.75 in order to raise sufficient funds to finance the third line of the Cairo underground system, which will cost about LE 3.6 billion.
